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Flooded families still in dire need
To those not directly affected by them, the flash floods of August 2007 may be fading into distant memory. But for some, the struggle is every bit as real today as it was 15 months ago when raging water stole everything they had.
Two weeks ago, a Rushford family with young children finally moved back into their home after a year cramped in a FEMA trailer. With the FEMA housing set up in what amounted to a mud pit, the children longed to play in the yard like they did in the days before the water came. But there is no yard at home, as the money ran out long before it could address things like fill, sod and a driveway.
With $18 million in new debt taken on by the residents of Rushford, there are families making choices that people who were not flooded cannot fathom. They are getting back into their homes, but at a cost that reaches far beyond the pocketbook. “We have people literally who are not eating,” said relief volunteer Gail Boyum. “One family was eating nothing but bread, eggs and milk until we found out. They were too proud to ask for help.”
Boyum is the secretary for the Rushford Area Disaster Alliance for Recovery (RADAR), the cornerstone organization in the Rushford flood recovery effort.
The group got its start as an interfaith organization within the community in the days after floodwaters destroyed much of Rushford August 19, 2007, and has since branched to include local collaborators like Fillmore County and national charities such as the Salvation Army.
Together the collaboration has tapped into every monetary source it can think of to help more than 300 clients still struggling for the basic necessities in the community of 1,800.
As of October 6, RADAR has collected $885,000 for residents who have tapped out other sources of aid. It sounds like a lot, Boyum said, until you divide it by those 300 in need and realize it’s not even $3,000 per family.
Those funds were paid directly to contractors for work done to return people into some sort of home, said Boyum. Neither staff time nor administrative expenses were subtracted from those dollars raised thanks to the donation of time and money for both from outside organizations.
But there is much left to be done in the community, Boyum said, as a multitude of families find themselves without the exterior work needed to make their homes stable. Families are getting out of FEMA trailers, but into homes that have no site fill, no driveways, no grading to keep their basements dry down the road.
Also, with the help of RADAR, the community is trying to bolster its food shelf offerings, opening the program to all in the community who find themselves running short.
But relatively isolated amid the rolling hills of Southeastern Minnesota, the residents of the quaint hamlet can only do so much for each other, and help is needed if they are to make it through this still trying time.
RADAR and members of the community have spearheaded multiple fundraising efforts, the most recent an auction and bake sale November 1 that netted $2,600.
An external fundraiser that continues to channel money into the community is the sale of When Roads Became Rivers, the commemorative book published by the Winona Post.
The book, which details the devastation of area flooding in words and pictures, is a painful reminder of how bad things were in this area, but for the residents of Rushford it is also a symbol of hope.
The first night the book was available in the community, people flocked to the parking lot at the grocery store for a copy, Boyum said. RADAR sold 138 copies of the book that night, and they didn’t even arrive in Rushford until dinner time.
To date the community has sold more than 500 copies, many residents considering the book a legacy of their ability to survive and persevere even in the face of unimaginable adversity.
And it is a symbol of hope as books are purchased and read, Boyum said, because it means the world has not forgotten what happened in Rushford and to scores of families in Winona County, and the more books that sell, the more financial help the flood victims will receive.
Through their darkest hours, it was this kind of caring from the world around them that propped Rushford up when its dazed residents still had four feet of water standing on the main floor of many businesses and houses in town. It was this kind of caring that brought thousands of volunteers from around the country to help muck out toxic sludge from the bulk of the town, and this kind of caring that brought truckloads of food and water to the Catholic church fellowship hall to feed thousands every day who had nowhere else to go.
“It lifted the community up when it didn’t know what to do next,” Boyum said. “We were energized by it.”
But the fact is that the struggle for a decent place to live, for enough food, for some sense of normalcy is still exhausting for some whose plight has faded from view with the passage of time. For those people, one more surge of community caring and energy may be the key to finally helping them move on from the floods along with everyone else.
For questions regarding RADAR flood recovery volunteers or materials, contact Steve Redalen at (507) 450-1721.
For questions regarding RADAR financial assistance, contact Gail Boyum at (507) 429-2464.
Food shelf donations for Rushford can be dropped off at Rushford Foods in downtown.
Donations can be mailed to:
RADAR, C/O Rushford Lutheran Church, P.O. Box 399, Rushford, MN 55971.
To assist in Winona County, contact the United Way of Greater Winona at 452-4624.
When Roads Became Rivers can be purchased at the Winona Post, Merchants Bank, and a variety of area businesses as well as online at www.winonafloodrecovery.org
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