YOU CAN CHOOSE to laugh or to cry, or to laugh after you’ve cried.
You can choose to give up or to be strong.
In Zumbro Falls, you’ll find humor and hope in a town overtaken almost three weeks ago by a flash flood that damaged nearly every home and business.
Sure, residents of this small southeastern Minnesota community are frustrated and tired and angry. Yet, they remain hopeful. They can still laugh between tears.
This sign hangs on the garage of a split-level house along Water Street in Zumbro Falls.
This is the now uninhabitable flooded house where the humorous sign, above photo, hangs. You can see it between the open garage doors. Floodwaters rose to about the top of the front door into the home.
To the right, just above the front door, you can see a line marking how high the water rose on the split-level house, above image.
Water Street seems appropriately named given the residences along the street that were flooded.
I don't know whether this fish was hung on this front porch before or after the Zumbro Falls flood, but I'm guessing afterward.
It seems ironic that a bottled water cooler stands beneath the words "WATER LEVEL" on the Zumbro Falls Fire Hall.
Was Z.F. Storage for sale before or after the flood? I don't know, but the structure is now labeled with this warning: LIMITED ENTRY. ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK. THIS STRUCTURE IS UNINHABITABLE."
A sign of hope in Zumbro Falls, next to a gas station.
© Copyright 2010 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
Thank you for these precious insights – laughed out loud at some – cried at others. The rest of Minnesota needs to understand just how serious this situation is and respond.
My response when I visited Zumbro Falls was the same as yours. Laughter and tears. In some small way I hope my stories have helped the rest of Minnesota, the rest of the country, to really understand the personal impact of the flood and the dire need for immediate help.
To Tracy, Jackie, Katie and Susie (even the woman who would not allow me to photograph her), thank you for sharing your emotional, heartfelt stories so that I could share them with the readers of Minnesota Prairie Roots.
Thanks for the posts. ZF is my hometown. I now live out of state, but my family still lives just outside of town. I went to school with Tracy, my friends sister-in-law owns the vet clinic by the gas station, my old baby-sitter lives in the blue house on the corner of 63 and 60, I spent much of my childhood playing on the ball field and my dad actually built a lot of the pole buildings in town (fire station/city hall, among others). It’s nice to be able to get all of the information about what is going on at home even while I’m so far away. I hope things will be getting back to “normal” when I next visit. And if not, I hope I can pitch in to help!
Tami, it has to be difficult for you, being out of state, and seeing the devastation and hearing the stories from your hometown. I’m glad that I could convey some info to you via my posts. I’ve concluded that the people of Zumbro Falls are a strong lot. Yet, they need our help…
Thanks for visiting Minnesota Prairie Roots. I have at least one more post coming from Zumbro Falls, so check back.
I’m going to focus on the laughter and appreciate that sign. Amazingly enough…
Thank you for getting the word out… Tears and humor are what we are surviving on! Thank you so much!
katie
You are most welcome, Katie. Since my flood features posted, my blog views have about doubled with nearly 500 views each of the past two days. Be assured that your voice is being heard, at least by the readers of Minnesota Prairie Roots.
I want to extend a special “thank you” to Minnesota Public Radio’s Bob Collins, who helped get the word out about my series of stories in his “News Cut” column earlier this week. As a result of this plug, these stories reached a broader audience. I appreciate the referral.
To all of you who have been personally impacted by the September floods, I know you have stories to share too. Feel free to submit a comment with your story. Only by putting names and stories to disasters do we truly understand the depth of the suffering and the strength of the human spirit.