Sandbagged

Water...Water...Water...Swelling Rivers, overflowing into the streets, into the homes, into the parks, into the businesses..Destruction...Unbelievable Devastation...My eyes fill with tears every time I look at a newscast or a picture. I choke on the words. I wish I could do something to help.

Matt and I joined in the sandbagging/wall building in Hills and in Iowa City the last few days. (Wow...If I did that everyday, thank God I don't have to, I would be in fabulous shape). My parents, and my brother and his wife and daughter live in Hills which is about 7 miles south of Iowa City. Hills is the town I grew up in. Even though I don't live there, I guess it will always be close to my heart. When I arrived in town about noon, on Friday I was amazed at the river. The Hills Access, just outside of town, is underwater, which I knew, but it is so much different to see it. I remember the flooding in 1993, It was the summer before my senior year of high school. I remember it was bad, but I do not remember it being this bad! I am sick to think that my families homes are in danger. The home my Daddy built with his own hands. The home I grew up in. The home my parents love living in. In the town that my family has lived since I was five years old. My mom spent the day pack up photos and and things that are not "replaceable". My dad keeps saying it is going to be okay. The sandbags are going to hold the water out. I pray that we did it all for not. We sandbagged all day and well into the evening. They called the day when severe weather moved in again. Things started back up this morning (Friday). They are saying there will be water in the town. They predict water in the basements, so many already have that and they are saying the crest is not even expected until Tuesday. Depends on so many what-ifs...Time will tell.
Matt's sister is in Cedar Rapids. She and her daughter had to leave their home yesterday. The water is about a block from their home. She is up the hill from it. We pray it stays a block away. She works downtown, so if you have seen the news, it's under water right now. Matt's parents are dry. Well their home is dry, not the corn/bean fields.
As I sit here and write I try to put it all together. I cannot. I do not understand. I cannot imagine what it is like to see your home underwater. To see you belongings washed away. I cannot even begin to comprehend how you pick up the pieces and start again. I know that the people in our communities will do it. We will band strong. We will pull together. We will rebuild better, bigger and stronger than before. But I am scared right now. I am. Just scared. Unsure. Helpless. I think we all are. I will place my trust in my Faith...that is all I can do for now. May God keep us safe. Protect us.