From The Times newspaper: GUEST COLUMN: Looking back about the flood Posted: Friday, April 18, 2014 10:03 pm Kent Terry, with help from Michel Hinrichsen The water came like a thief in the night with almost no warning of the upcoming plight. The dam that had protected us before became our nemesis flooding water to our door. There was fear. We had seen the water rising all day, watching the Illinois River edging closer and closer to the top of a levee that went back to the 1930s, and was so low it actually provided little protection. The dam has always protected the city and while we suspected we might get some water in basements, our residents weren’t ready for what happened. Seven barges tied off the south (the dam side) of the river attempted to move to the other side of the river. The tows almost sunk in the raging current, and had to be cut loose, with all seven slamming into the dam. In only a few minutes the city began to flood. Over the levee the water let go. Into our homes, schools and churches it flowed. We fled in the night. What will the morning show? We were afraid to stay and afraid to go. There was trepidation. Water filled our basements and covered our floors. For those closest to the river, the damage was more. Cars were overturned where the current was swiftest. Homes were lost when the foundations shifted. There was shock. The power of water is amazing. I saw houses taken off their foundation and people talked about how freezers and refrigerators were floating in their kitchens and basements. Interestingly, it wasn’t the street closest to the river that caught the most damage. The levee was breached most significantly closest to the dam, and actually the current ran back into the city, down the second and third street in. On Wallace Street, five of the six homes closest to the breach in the levee were toast It looks like a war zone! the people did say, as the piles stacked up in front of each doorway. Furniture, carpet, clothes and more, our treasured possessions trashed outside our door. There was despair As long as I live, I will never forget that first day we were allowed back in the flooded area to clean up. While our home on the bluff of Marseilles wasn’t affected, a choir member from our church home lived two blocks from the river, and I spent the next three weeks there helping them muck out their home, literally tearing it down to the studs. And while it wasn’t my stuff that I was carrying to the curb as the saying goes, “I feel your pain,” because I clearly did. When my friend Karen broke into tears at the end of the day, I wasn’t ashamed to cry with her. It wasn’t just 200-plus houses being flooded, it was a lifetime of possessions being trashed on the lawn 200 times. The residents began to call the backhoe and trash truck that followed it the undertaker,” because it was taking away their lives. Where will we go? We cant stay here! Our homes arent liveable, that much is clear. Our family, friends and agencies give us a place to stay. We thank God they show their love this way. There was God at work. God must have been at work a few months earlier when a member of the Red Cross called and asked if I would be interested in serving on the Red Cross board. The board had decided they wanted to include the eastern side of La Salle County on the board, including Marseilles. I thought “Gee the Red Cross. That sounds exciting.” Little did I know that in a few months I would I have the Red Cross number on speed dial. The director and I talked several times a week about families, housing options, community resources and more. As part of the long-term recovery committee, we still talk at least weekly. People went absolutely everywhere after the flood. Best friends showed why they were best friends, and our mayor took in a longtime friend. A member of my prayer group took in a family of six into his home and he even put in a bathroom for them. A family had no place to lay their heads, and a Christian family took them in. Families, of course, stepped to the forefront, and many grandmothers found themselves with a houseful of kids again. Rotary, Lions and Legion; their service did shine. The Red Cross, Salvation Army and others gave of their time. Neighbors, friends and family helped us dig through the muck. We will get through this together if we have any luck. There is hope. The first few weeks of the muckout were incredible. We were working against time because we were working against the development of mold. We literally almost had to destroy houses in order to save them, and I have bashed in more walls than I want to think about. At this stage. help came from everywhere, but we had no real organized plan, and like me at the Barnes home, we tried to take care of family and friends. The Lions Club became a House of Hope and the Lions Hall was filled to the brim with flood supplies. American Legion members, old guys like me, jumped to the rescue, as they began to feed flood victims and volunteers, and did so for three weeks. At first they were overwhelmed, and then supplies and volunteers came to their rescue. My Rotary Club jumped in, providing activities for children who were displaced from their flooded school, even given each teacher $100 each to buy supplies for students who lost items in the flood. I would read the thank you letters from the kids at our Rotary meeting, and I know the members would smile as I struggled to keep my composure as the kids talked about how they lost everything and how their homes were full of mud. Our long-term recovery committee was formed in May. Ron Crabbe, a contractor who is an expert in wallboard; Gary Davidson who is an ex-Marine and has rehabbed several houses; and me, who turns wrenches the wrong way, met for the first time. Pastor Carolyn Lukasick of the Methodist Church and the leader of our long-term committee had put the call out for help on the national website and help, from your church and many others just like you, began to arrive. In fact we have had so many Methodist groups that although I lead the services bi-weekly in my Lutheran church, I have to admit I am leaning Methodist. Ron, Gary and I meet several times a week for breakfast, and as the crews came in we would provide help to any family that asked us. I often use the phrase nothing says what you want to say like just being there, so Ron, Gary and I — instead of sending crews off to homes to work by themselves — would work side-by side with them. To say that we develop a close relationship with our crews would be an understatement. We learn the names, have meals with them, which are blessedly supplied by our Rotary Club, and our area churches and work together making amazing changes to the homes on which we are working. And remember, many of these homes were down to the slats when we started. One Saturday afternoon when a crew left after spending a week with us, I looked over at Ron and noted: “Why when this happens do I feel like I lost a best friend?” I have learned a lot about my Christian faith in this whole process and also about the faith of people who have come to help us. One of our residents called our volunteers “flood angels,” and that fits. People like members of your church give of their time and talents asking nothing in return, and they have literally helped save our city. I have also learned a lot about the joy of giving. A Buddhist charity whose Midwest office is in Darien has twice been to our city and given our residents over $50,000 in monetary donations, and I have become friends with the leaders. Part of the Buddhist philosophy is to thank the recipient of your gift for the honor of giving. At first this may sound wrong, but this last year has been the most rewarding time in my life — helping these families restore their lives — and I am thankful to them for allowing me to be part of their lives. Marseilles people are tough. They have a strong will and when the going gets really rough, they get tougher still. The future belongs to those who adjust. Nature can be fickle, but in God we trust. There is faith. I am incredibly proud, not only of the Marseilles residents who weathered the effects of the devastating flood, but of residents all over our beautiful county. The future belongs to those who adjust and indeed, most of our residents have adjusted. I am also incredibly grateful to your church and the members who have wonderfully given of their time and talents multiple times. I have been writing stories about my experiences since the beginning and one of my favorites is entitled “Voluntold.” One of our caseworkers has young people who work with him and as he was thanking them for volunteering one of them responded, “Well actually, we were voluntold,” but the boy added added, “but we like it.” I believe that members of this church, and blessedly dozens of other churches as well, have been voluntold and I have a pretty good idea who told them. Thank you. KENT TERRY is the retired Marseilles Elementary School psychologist and lives in rural Marseilles. He can be reached via email at lonnyc@mywebtimes.
Posted on: Sat, 19 Apr 2014 12:15:08 +0000
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