Minnesota Prairie Roots

Writing and photography by Audrey Kletscher Helbling

Part V: Help after the Hammond flood March 18, 2011

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 7:51 AM
Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

EDITOR’S NOTE: Minnesotans help one another. So when Tina Marlowe and her family needed assistance after a devastating autumn 2010 flash flood severely damaged their Hammond, Minnesota, home, volunteers were there to assist.

Today, in this fifth in a series of stories, read about the people who helped Tina’s family and the gratitude she feels toward them.

 

John Bemmert took this photo from the front deck of his house. It shows his flooded yard within the fence, his neighbor's house to the left and his father-in-law's yard on the right. This image was taken on the afternoon of Friday, September 24, 2010.

Floodwaters approach the home of John Bemmert in this photo he took the afternoon of Friday, September 24, 2010. He was one of the lucky ones. The water rose only to the base of the skirting on his home.

WITH A FLOODED basement and several inches of water on the main level, Tina, her fiancé, two children and future in-laws were forced from their home. When the floodwaters receded, volunteers pitched in to help the family move their belongings and gut their home.

The Sons of Silence Motorcycle Club immediately dispatched a crew to move furniture, clean the basement, and rip out flooring and drywall. A retired couple from the Rushford area, Sentence-to-Serve members and others helped the family. The Rochester Med City Crew MC treated the family to a Thanksgiving dinner.

“I am grateful they took care of us with such dignity and respect,” Tina says of all who assisted them.

Once their house was emptied and dried out, they immediately began the process of rebuilding.

NO FLOOD INSURANCE, BUT HELP CAME

Without flood insurance on their home which lies in the 500-year flood plain, Tina and her family depended on others and sought out programs that could assist them. They accepted a Quickstart Grant, shopped around, made good choices and spent money as wisely as they could to stretch it as far as they could, Tina says.

They also tapped into Cathy Mann’s retirement fund to buy appliances.

Yet, there is nothing to pay for replacing their personal belongings.

In the spirit of giving, people have pitched in—a grant from Tina’s company to help pay hotel bills; co-workers donating money and holding a bake sale and chili feed to cover hotel and food costs; the Plainview-Elgin-Millville School District, through a drive, provided clothes, bedding, other essentials and cash; and a cash donation from Cathy Mann’s (Tina’s future mother-in-law) co-workers helped pay hotel bills.

Through Lion’s Club, Eagles Club, church group and individual donations to the Zumbro Valley Disaster Relief Fund, the family received intermittent assistance with gas and grocery cards.

“The amount of help we received from the community is unbelievable and is something every Minnesotan can, and should, be proud of,” Tina says.

 

The floodwaters had receded when John Bemmert took this photo on the morning of Saturday, September 25, 2010. It shows the intersection of Wabasha County Road 11 and Second Avenue. The flood tore out the wooden fence. A waterline is visible on the house.

Susie Buck took this photo as floodwater from storm sewers began backing up from the street into her yard before 8 a.m. on Friday, September 24, 2010. Motorists had to drive through her yard to get out of town on the west side of the Zumbro River in Hammond.

PLEASE JOIN MINNESOTA PRAIRIE ROOTS for one last visit with Tina Marlowe as she tells us what remains to be done in Hammond and how you can help.

© Copyright 2011 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

Photos Copyright 2011 by Susie Buck & John Bemmert

 

Part IV: Hanging onto hope after the flood March 17, 2011

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 10:31 AM
Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

EDITOR’S NOTE: What is it like to lose nearly everything you own in a flood? What is it like to have your life disrupted, to be without a home? This post addresses those questions in this fourth in a series of stories about a Hammond, Minnesota, family that survived a September 2010 flash flood.

An aerial view of Hammond during the flash flood of September 2010. Photo courtesy of Micheal Mann & Tina Marlowe.

FOR TINA MARLOWE and her family, life abruptly changed after the flooding Zumbro River forced them from their home. Those first few days for Tina, her fiancé, two children and in-laws—all of whom lived together in the same house—were charged with emotion, filled with uncertainty.

“Every member of our family has gone through every emotion you can think of,” Tina says. “Desperation and shock the first few days, looking at the destruction to our home, to our friends’ homes, to our favorite ‘watering hole,’ which is also the community gathering place, to our parks, our river bank, the rubbish and filth.

Wonder and fear as to what will happen to us… Where will we go? Who is going to help us? Where am I going to start? What have I lost? What do I have left? How am I going to pay for it all? Will I be able to financially survive in the meantime? What do I tell the kids?”

 

Floodwaters from the Zumbro River reached Hammond's business district. Photo courtesy of Micheal Mann & Tina Marlowe.

The bridge connecting east and west Hammond is barely visible during the flood, which also overtook the town's park. Photo courtesy of Micheal Mann & Tina Marlowe.

TINA’S KIDS AND THE LESSONS THEY’VE LEARNED

For Tina’s children, 16-year-old Cassie and 7-year-old Christian, the flood took a major emotional toll. Christian started having behavioral and concentration problems on the bus and in school. Cassie’s life as a busy teen, running around, making plans, came to a screeching halt.

“They went through the extremes of being angry, then indifferent,” Tina says of her children.

Now that the family has returned to Hammond—they moved back right after Christmas, three months after the flood—the kids are beginning to settle back into normal routines and a normal life.

“They have seen and learned a lot,” Tina says. “I hope that the greatest lesson that they get from this is that family, community, and love are the most powerful tools and assets they will ever have. This is the ONLY thing that will get you through when all else is lost, and is all and everything that you need in life to be secure.

We are Minnesotans. We take care of each other.”

Floodwaters destroyed everything in the basement of the house where Tina, Micheal, Cassie and Christian and Bob and Cathy Mann live. Photo courtesy of Micheal Mann & Tina Marlowe.

Muck surrounds the furnace in the Mann family's basement. Photo courtesy of Micheal Mann & Tina Marlowe.

Flooded appliances in the basement. Photo courtesy of Micheal Mann & Tina Marlowe.

The family's belongings, moved outside to dry after the flood. Photo courtesy of Micheal Mann & Tina Marlowe.

THE ANGER AND QUESTIONS

A devastating natural disaster like this flood raises many questions and elicits mixed emotions, including anger. Tina has felt her share of anger and I’m allowing her to air her concerns here so that perhaps we can all learn from her experience.

Tina says Hammond, population 230, was neglected and forgotten during the “threat” of the rising river. No one came to help on Thursday night until it was too late, she claims. The evacuation in Hammond occurred many hours after the exodus in nearby Zumbro Falls.

While food and shelter were offered in Hammond, Tina says that did not help her family displaced to a hotel in neighboring Rochester.

“There was no immediate help in the aftermath, and a lot of what was being done didn’t make sense to us. We were left to fend for ourselves for nearly two months,” Tina continues.

Her anger focuses on the government “for not having a better plan, and for ultimately abandoning us.” She was angry, too, at President Barack Obama…”when he was doing diplomatic work, when we felt that a simple acknowledgement and signed declaration seemed so simple.”

She felt a loss of hope “when big brother seems to turn his back on you.”

Yet, Tina says she is grateful and humble for the volunteer help, the donations, the support from neighboring communities.

THE WAITING, THE FUTURE, THE HOPE

Anticipation and anxiety marked the family’s days as they awaited word on financing and rebuilding. They were physically, mentally and emotionally exhausted.

When they finally returned home to Hammond, they felt peace, hope and appreciation.

“But it’s not over yet,” Tina says. “There are still feelings of guilt. So many (people) had damages much worse than us. There are those still waiting for answers.

It’s hard to be one of the first ones home. It’s lonely. Our neighbors’ homes are dark and empty. Every day we hear news of another one leaving or another one deciding to stay. The future is still uncertain.

Our quiet, simple life in the valley has been disrupted. This summer we still won’t be able to enjoy all that we enjoy about our valley because of the loss and destruction.

I hang onto hope and realize the meaning of resilience when I watch the bald eagle fly over the river, still making the valley his home too. I feel a lot like that eagle, fighting extinction—refusing to leave the home I love.”

THE NEXT INSTALLMENT in this series looks at how others have helped Tina and her family get back on their feet.

© Copyright 2011 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

Photos courtesy and copyright of Micheal Mann & Tina Marlowe

 

She just wants to hug her house March 16, 2011

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 7:49 AM
Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

 

Through the trees and looking down into flooded Hammond, you can see the top of Dallas and Vicki Williamson's house "in" the Zumbro River. Carrie Hofschulte took this photo.

I’M TAKING A BREAK today from sharing flood survivor Tina Marlowe’s experiences to tell you about another family affected by the September 2010 flash flood in southeastern Minnesota during this, National Flood Safety Awareness Week.

Sheri Ryan of Goodhue contacted me shortly after I posted the first in my six-part flood series. She had flood photos and wanted to know if I was interested in posting them here. Once I saw Sheri’s images and read her email, I knew, without a doubt, that these photos and this story needed to be shared.

Sheri is the daughter of Vicki and Dallas Williamson, whose 1881 home in Hammond was heavily-damaged by the floodwaters. The couple is not returning to this Zumbro River community and has relocated 35 miles away to an 1882 farmhouse atop a hill in rural Cannon Falls.

Sheri’s photos are powerful. Upon viewing these images, I was instantly reminded of the pictures my second daughter took while volunteering with clean-up after Hurricane Katrina.

Although the number of individuals affected by the flash floods in Minnesota last fall pales in comparison to Hurricane Katrina, the impact is no less significant. Lives have been thrown into upheaval and chaos in the aftermath of such a devastating natural disaster.

Sheri says her mom is still mourning the loss of her home in Hammond.

“My mom is completely devastated from losing their home and all that was ‘tossed out on the street’ for the loaders to take away, and all that was washed down the river–her beautiful garden, grandsons’ toys, her parents’ stuff/photos, memories…she said the other day that she ‘just wants to give her house a hug’.”

For now, the future of that house is uncertain. The Williamsons won’t be back. But they must decide whether to elevate the house four feet (to be above the 100-year flood plain), tear it down or move it. If they go with a buy-out plan, the house must be torn down and nothing can be built there again.

They had flood insurance, but that did not cover the costs of purchasing the 1882 Cannon Falls area farmhouse.

“…there have not been many decisions yet,” Sheri says. “She (mom) just cannot go through this again. She said it is like a death…a loss…maybe she is still in mourning?”

We would all be wise to remember, as spring flood season approaches, our Minnesota neighbors like Vicki who are still struggling to recover from the floods of nearly six months ago.

Another shot of the Williamsons’ flooded home. Photo by Susie Buck

Above the window you can clearly see the water line marking the height of the floodwaters on the Williamson house. They had just power-washed the house two days before the flood. Sheri Ryan photo.

A day after the floodwaters subsided, you can barely tell that 9 feet and 8 inches of water once surrounded the Williamsons' house. The freezer near the back door had been inside the garage and was moved by floodwaters. Fifty freshly-butchered chickens were scattered across the yard and garage. Vicki Williamson lost all of her freshly-frozen tomato sauce also. The family had to dispose of the rotting food quickly into containers to keep coyotes and other critters from scavenging. Photo by Sheri Ryan

The first day back into their flooded home, the Williamson family had 20 minutes to grab whatever they could carry on the back of a four-wheeler. Photo by Sheri Ryan.

In the Williamsons' bathroom, a layer of muck covered everything. Floodwaters peeled the wallpaper off the walls. Photo by Sheri Ryan.

Flood-damaged debris collected in the Williamsons' front yard. Says Sheri Ryan, "My mom called me on Wednesday just in tears, bawling because they were taking away all of her stuff with pay-loaders." Photo by Sheri Ryan.

 

The Williamsons' gutted home, including beautiful hardwood floors. Photo by Sheri Ryan.

This photo by Carrie Hofschulte shows the Zumbro River raging across the bridge that connects east and west Hammond on Wabasha County Road 11.

Sheri Ryan shot this image of the same bridge, above, when the water had returned to its almost "normal" level.

THANK YOU to Sheri Ryan and Carrie Hofschulte for sharing these incredible photos.

Check back tomorrow for Part IV in my flood series from Hammond.

Text copyright 2011 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

Photos copyright 2011 Sheri Ryan and Carrie Hofschulte

 

Part II: One hour to pack, a flood survivor’s story March 14, 2011

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 7:52 AM
Tags: , , , , , , , ,

EDITOR’S NOTE: Today I bring you the second in a series of stories from a survivor of the flood five months ago in Hammond, Minnesota. Tina Marlowe and her family were forced from their home on September 24, 2010.

We pick up where we left off in my last post with the family fleeing their tiny community as floodwaters rose, engulfing their home.

 

A flooded portion of Bridge Street (Wabasha County Road 6) on the west side of the Zumbro River in Hammond, photographed at 7:30 a.m. on Friday, September 24, 2010. The river was still rapidly rising. Photo by Susie Buck.

LEAVING, AND RETURNING TO, HAMMOND

Ordered to evacuate, the family drove to a friend’s house in nearby Rochester and then booked a hotel room. After the river crested later that day, they returned to Hammond where the National Guard was blocking every entrance into town.

“We were told that the water had not subsided, our town was not safe, we would not be allowed back in that day, and ‘you really do not want to see what was happening to your town,’” Tina says.

But that didn’t stop Tina’s fiancé, Micheal Mann, who grabbed the family’s 35 mm camera, dogged the guard, and hiked the cemetery hill and down again as close as he could get to photograph their house.

He reported back that the water had risen, broken the bank at the bend behind their house and that the river was “flowing” down their street.

 

The intersection of Wabasha County Road 11 and Second Avenue in Hammond, photographed by Susie Buck at 7:45 a.m. on Friday, September 24, 2010, from her neighbor's yard. Waters are rising from the storm sewer onto the road and yards. The black Blazer is leaving Hammond on the only route out of town. By the time Susie was told to evacuate around 8:30 a.m., the route was too flooded for cars to drive through. She lost her 2008 Chevrolet Malibu in the flood.

THE NEXT DAY

On Saturday, the family was allowed back into their house for one hour to grab essentials and rescue their pets. I’ll allow Tina to tell you about those 60 minutes.

“When we got in we tried to grab our cat, Tigger, but he was totally freaked out. He ran to his usual hiding spot—the basement. Still full of water (with only about four steps visible), the cat hit the water hard and immediately started crying as you heard the pitter patter of his paws desperately trying to swim. Then suddenly I heard nothing. Devastated and in shock, I just watched the cat drown.

But, we only had an hour, so I had no choice but to direct my attention to the issue at hand—all the clothing, dry food, animal food, medicine, and affects that I could carry. Stuffing duffle bag after duffle bag, we were in survivor mode.

Much to our surprise, in the midst of concentrating and sobbing, there was a riotous yelp from the basement and what looked to be a large, wet rat came dashing up from the basement. Crying in relief, we caught Tigger and dried him off. Somehow he had survived his swim.

Unfortunately when we were evacuated Friday, it was chores day. Amongst other things, the fish bowl had not gotten cleaned and he subsequently died on Monday despite my efforts to keep feeding him. Hammond had no clean water and I could not bring him with us.

 

This photo taken by Jenny Hoffman on the morning of Saturday, September 25, 2010, shows the entrance to the basement in Susie Buck's house. Susie's basement was flooded and water rose 8 - 15 inches into her main floor. The white tote was sitting on the basement floor before the flood, but rose with the floodwaters. Three days later, when the waters receded, the tote settled back onto the basement floor. The books inside were dry. Susie lives across the street from Tina Marlowe and her family.

DECISIONS

In the light of the situation, we quickly decided that my 16-year-old would have to quit volleyball. Not knowing what was going to be happening from day to day, or where we would live from day to day I just couldn’t even begin to figure it all out. Her friend’s mother volunteered to let Cassie live with her temporarily so she could finish out the season. Knowing how important it is to try and keep their lives as normal as possible, I agreed.

I also called the bus barn and arranged to have Christian (her 7-year-old son) picked up at the closest bus stop to Rochester and I drove my kids to that stop every day so that they could continue to go to Plainview-Elgin-Millville. On top of the nightmare we were living, I did not want to change their schools.

We lived in three different hotels until November, when we found a landlord who was willing to rent us a house on a month-to-month lease, with pets. That is an impossible task, and thank God Julie came along. It was a huge relief to move into that house in Rochester, where we stayed until we moved back home.

I cannot begin to tell you how stressful it is to live in a one-room hotel with four people, and only two burners and a microwave to cook with.”

MINNESOTA PRAIRIE ROOTS readers, I will continue to bring you Tina’s story in future posts. Please check back.

© Copyright 2011 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Part I: Tina’s story, surviving the Hammond, Minnesota, flood March 13, 2011

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 10:36 AM
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

EDITOR’S NOTE: With the heavy snowfall in Minnesota this winter, residents are eying our state’s rivers, watchful and concerned about spring flooding that is all but imminent. Some forecasters are predicting the worst flooding in 35 years. With that in mind, I bring you the first in a series of posts about one family displaced last September by a flash flood in southeastern Minnesota. Read what it’s like to live through such a natural disaster and ponder what may lie ahead for many other Minnesotans.

I HAVE NEVER MET Tina Marlowe of Hammond.

But I can tell you this strong woman impresses me with her resilience and positive attitude.

Tina and her family survived the September 2010 flash flood that ravaged their southeastern Minnesota community, displacing nearly all 230 residents. In January I e-mailed Tina, a good friend of Katie Shones of Hammond whom I’d met two weeks after the flood. I expected a brief response from Tina. I got, instead, a 4 ½-page e-mail that brought me to tears.

I promised Tina then that I would share her story because it needs to be heard. She speaks with a strong voice, edged with raw, honest emotion. She speaks from the heart and with the soul of someone who will not allow this setback, this destruction of her home and upheaval in her life, to get her down.

And so we begin Tina’s story, some of it condensed, other parts unedited. I’ll bring her story to you in installments. Ponder her words. Consider how you would handle what Tina has been through in the past five months. And then, if you are moved to action, do what you can to help the residents of Hammond and nearby Zumbro Falls, who are still reeling financially and emotionally from the devastating floods of September 2010.

 

The river bank is to the left of the garage in the very left of this photo. The 100-plus-year-old former Hammond House Hotel on the right saw floodwaters reach the ceiling on the first floor. Its owners had never seen the river so high. They are not returning to their home. This photo was taken at 7:30 a.m. on Friday, September 24, 2010, by Hammond resident Susie Buck.

THE BACKGROUND: TINA’S HOME

Two years ago, as the economy worsened, Tina and her fiancé, Micheal Mann, and two children moved to Hammond, into the home of Mike’s parents, Bob and Cathy Mann. In the spirit of “taking care of family,” Tina says they could survive more comfortably if they lived together. So they have, in an early 1900s house which the elder Manns have called home for three decades. They finished remodeling and updating just two years ago. The house sits in the 500-year flood plain along First Street, the second street west of the Zumbro River bridge on one of the highest elevations on the “low” side of Hammond.

Their house should have been “safe” from floodwaters, even more so because it is elevated three feet above the ground.

However, the basement was engulfed in water and the main level was flooded with 3 – 4 inches of water rushing in from the Zumbro River.

The family was displaced for three months and moved back home shortly after Christmas.

 

A view of Bridge Street (Wabasha County Road 6) taken from County Road 11 that runs through Hammond at 7:30 a.m. Friday, September 24, 2010. Photographer Susie Buck once lived with her family in the white house on the right when they moved to Hammond on September 24, 1961. In the spring of 1962, the family had to move from their rental home due to flooding. Susie was only two years old at the time. She heard stories from her parents about the water level rising in the basement as they were trying to remove the water heater. In the September 2010 flood, the water rose well above the windows on the main floor.

THE EVACUATION

Tina and her family got orders on Friday, September 24, Micheal’s birthday, to leave their home due to the rising floodwaters.

Here’s their evacuation story, in Tina’s words, beginning with events on Thursday, September 23:

“Although Bob (Mann) told me he has seen the river this high before and was reassuring me that it would crest soon and we would not see any flood water, I was starting to have my doubts.

I went home and cooked dinner. After dinner we walked down to the bridge to check the river and our friend’s land on Bridge Street was starting to flood, which wasn’t too unusual. But, by 11 p.m. the water was rising faster—rather than receding—and finally some sandbags and the Elgin Fire Department showed up.

Mike and I helped with sandbagging until about 1 a.m. At that point I had been awake for nearly 30 hours. Mike looked at me and said, ‘I’m tired and you’re tired, we have to go get some sleep. We may have a long day tomorrow.’

 

A view of the raging Zumbro River, looking from the west side of Hammond to the east at 7:30 a.m. on Friday, September 24, 2010. Floodwaters eventually destroyed the gravel road on the east side of the river and flooded homes and businesses. The canoe landing on the east side is also totally engulfed in floodwaters. Photo by Hammond resident Susie Buck.

 

 

Logs jammed against the bridge in Hammond. Water completely covered the bridge during the flood. Photo by Jenny Hoffman.

When we got to the bridge on Friday morning, the water was hitting the rafters under the bridge and whole trees where coming down the river, crashing into the bridge. It was terrifying to feel our bridge shake beneath our feet. We could not get down to the bar or cross town. The river had sliced right through Hammond, dividing us into east and west.

We could tell by the rage of the river that it was not finished yet and Mike and I decided to get home and run to Rochester to get supplies for the day ‘before we can’t get out of here at all.’ As we were walking home, the flood water was literally following us up Main Street right to our house.

As we rounded the corner of our house the fire department met us at the front door informing us of the mandatory evacuation and we were advised that we had 15 minutes to move our vehicles to high ground, grab essentials and pets, and get out before the water trapped us.

We did that, and rescued our neighbor who was still sleeping, exhausted from sandbagging all night. We drove my 4WD Jeep through over three feet of water. In that jeep we had five adults, two children, one full-grown rottweiler, two cats, some clothes for each of us, and a white wedding dress. We left one cat behind (we couldn’t catch him in time) and a fish, and we had no idea when we would be back. Happy Birthday Mike…”

CHECK BACK FOR FUTURE installments as Tina tells how her family and community were affected by the flood and where they’re at today.

Copyright 2011 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Remembering the children as Minnesota prepares for spring floods February 23, 2011

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 11:12 AM
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

SOMETIMES WE FORGET, in the jumble of quotes and information, to see a certain human, deeply personal, side of a news story.

Today, thanks to Katie Shones of Hammond, I’m bringing you a child’s perspective on the devastating flood that engulfed her southeastern Minnesota community of 230 during a September 2010 flash flood. I met Katie shortly after the flood.

The disaster was a terrifying ordeal for Hammond residents, who are still reeling in the aftermath. Many have not yet returned to their homes. Some won’t.

Now, as the focus in Minnesota shifts to predicted record spring flooding, as officials prepare for the highest river levels since the 1960s, as crews begin filling sandbags in areas along the Red River, this seems the right moment to let Katie speak—about her children.

But first a little background. Katie and her husband, Scott, live on the east side of Hammond, which is divided by the Zumbro River. The river flows just across Main Street, the highway and the park from the Shones’ home. Floodwaters came within feet—feet—of their house, lapping at their front door.

The home of Katie and Scott Shones and their children, photographed by Hammond resident Gene Reckmann during the September 2010 flood. Their house was spared, by mere feet.

Katie isn’t too worried about flooding this spring. Yet, she’s concerned enough to have a plan. If the Zumbro River rises like it did last fall, she and Scott will haul sand and gravel from a local quarry and build a bank to protect their home. They also have a relocation plan in place.

Their 11-year-old daughter, Rebekah, is ready too. “Ever the resourceful and prepared child she is, she has two bags jam-packed with stuff underneath her bed just in case we have to leave on a moment’s notice due to floodwaters,” Katie says.

This mother’s words break my heart. No child should have to worry about a flood.

But the depth to which the Hammond flood has impacted Rebekah and her 9-year-old brother Jerome reaches beyond concerns about a future flood. “The September flood has affected them more deeply than I had ever imagined,” Katie tells me. “Bekah still occasionally cries out in her sleep, ‘Daddy, Daddy, help me.’ When I ask her what is wrong, she mumbles things about the flood. She never fully wakes up, but I do believe she is having nightmares about that day.”

As a mother, simply reading this brings me to tears. I can only imagine how Katie and Scott feel when they hear their daughter cry out for help in her sleep.

“Jerome has seen the flooding in Australia on the news and is very worried that it will spread to Hammond,” Katie continues. “I have tried to reassure my kids that if it ever gets as bad as it did last fall, we will leave long before it reaches our place and go to Grandma Merle’s (my mother’s farm). The farm is located just two miles from our home, but is on the limestone bluffs above the Zumbro River.”

With so many Hammond residents forced from town and many still not back in their homes, Katie says her children are also without many playmates. “…there never were many children in the area their ages to play with, but now there are only four kids in Hammond left for them to play with.”

That said, the absence of their playmates serves as a daily reminder to Rebekah and Jerome of the floodwaters which ravaged their town and came terrifyingly close to flooding their home.

As Minnesotans physically prepare for the floodwaters that are certain to inundate communities and homes, I hope river town residents are also preparing psychologically, specifically remembering the children like Rebekah and Jerome.

Floodwaters destroyed this portion of Wabasha County Road 11, the river road which runs from Hammond to Jarrett. Gene Reckmann photographed this section of the roadway just outside of Hammond.

THANK YOU, Katie, for allowing me to share your deeply personal story. Thank you also to Gene Reckmann of Hammond for the photos posted here.

READERS, IF YOU have not read my series of posts and photos about the September flood in Hammond and neighboring Zumbro Falls, check my Minnesota Prairie Roots archives for stories published during the week of October 11, 2010.

Copyright 2011 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Worries about spring flooding along the Zumbro River February 8, 2011

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 11:09 AM
Tags: , , , , , , ,

IF YOU LIVE along a river in Minnesota, are you concerned about spring flooding?

While predictions for significant, wide-spread flooding in our state focus primarily on those living along the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers, folks in other riverside communities are worried too.

Take the residents of Hammond, a southeastern Minnesota town of 230 which sits along the banks of the Zumbro River. Eighty percent of the houses and most of the businesses there were flooded during a late September 2010 flash flood. Many residents still are not back in their homes.

I visited Hammond and nearby flood-ravaged Zumbro Falls only weeks after that flood and talked to several locals, including Katie Shones. The Zumbro River flooded across park land, a highway and Main Street before lapping at the door of Katie’s family’s Hammond home.

 

Katie Shones and her family live in this house, photographed during the September 2010 flood. Her house was spared, by mere feet. Other houses and businesses along her street were flooded by the Zumbro River.

Her friend, Tina Marlowe, wasn’t as fortunate. The home where Tina lives with her fiancé Micheal; her 7 and 16-year-old children; and future in-laws, Bob and Cathy, was flooded with the basement entirely engulfed in water and 3 – 4 inches of water on the main level. The house is elevated approximately three feet above the ground.

Tina and her family moved back into their home right after Christmas.

I emailed Tina and Katie recently with these questions:

Are you concerned about possible spring flooding? How about your community? Have you, or are you going to, purchase flood insurance? Are you making any special preparations for possible flooding?

Their answers differ somewhat, probably based on personal experience more than anything. Yet, concern is woven into each of their responses, enough concern so that they are planning for the possibility of spring flooding.

Katie tells me: “Lots of people are talking about the possibility of another flood, but kind of have the devil may care attitude. If it is going to flood, there is not much one can do about it. Natural disasters happen all the time.”

 

Main Street Hammond at the height of the September 2010 flood. Water was rushing over the sidewalk and into the basement of the gray house via the cellar doors. Katie Shones' house is only two lots away from the gray house.

Katie’s not worried about her home flooding. Her house isn’t even in the 500-year flood zone and she hasn’t purchased flood insurance. Yet, if the water starts to rise like last fall, she and her husband will haul sand and gravel from local quarries and build a bank in front of their home to protect it.

Her feelings about spring flooding are mixed, though, she says, because of all the snow. “If the ground isn’t frozen, hopefully most will drain into the soil and not reach the river. If the snow melts at a normal pace, I really don’t think we have much to worry about.”

Then she adds this kicker: “I think the Rochester flood control project on the Zumbro River had a huge role to play in this fall’s flood.”

I know nothing of Rochester’s flood control project, but if Katie is thinking this, then I bet other residents are too.

Katie’s friend Tina already has a plan in place for spring flooding and her future father-in-law is checking into flood insurance. “I am very concerned,” she says.

“Mike and I are making a plan,” she shares. “Activation Stage in Zumbro Falls is 15 feet and flood stage is 18 feet. So if the river rises to 15 feet and the crest is predicted to be over 20, Mike and I will be pulling all of our stuff out of the basement and main level and will take it up to the second floor. Then we will pre-pack the car, and have our vehicles moved to higher ground before we get the evacuation call.

Since my father-in-law is now acting mayor, I’m sure that Mike and I would be helping out with door-to-door notifications if in fact there is an evacuation ordered. It is still undetermined what would happen if the house sustains damage again.”

Tina has one more worry related to possible spring flooding. She is getting married and her wedding will be at Municipal Beach Park in Wabasha with the reception at a riverside restaurant there. “I am very, very concerned about the Mississippi flooding…my back-up plan was the park in Hammond. I am holding my breath and doing a lot of praying!!!!!”

© Copyright 2011 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

Photos by Gene Reckmann and courtesy of Katie Shones

 

Gratitude from a Minnesota flood survivor January 14, 2011

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 4:15 PM
Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

YESTERDAY I APPROVED a comment submitted by Tina Marlowe on my November 12, 2010, post, “An update from flood-ravaged Hammond & Floodfest 2010.”

Maybe you read the comment from this woman who survived the September flooding of tiny Hammond in southeastern Minnesota. Tina and her family fled their flooded home and lived in a hotel, then a rental house in Rochester, before returning to Hammond shortly after Christmas.

In case you missed Tina’s heartfelt comment, I am republishing it here because you need to read the words of this flood survivor. She writes with touching honesty, depth and emotion.

A child's toy lies among the tires and other rubble at a collection point in Hammond when I visited the small Wabasha County town along the Zumbro River some 2 1/2 weeks after the September flood. Seeing that child's discarded toy among all the flood debris depicted, for me, the personal side of this natural disaster.

You’ll hear more from Tina in the future. She sent me a four-page e-mail in response to additional questions I asked. Her answers will move you to tears. Once I’ve sorted through her missive—and that could take a week or three—I’ll publish Tina’s complete story in a series of installments.

But for now, read this portion of Tina’s story:

I AM THE DEAR FRIEND that Katie spoke of. My name is Tina. I am happy to report that my family: my father and mother-in-laws to be; my fiancé, Micheal; and my children, Cassandra and Christian, moved back into our home in Hammond the weekend of New Year’s Eve. We tried desperately to get back in by Christmas, but a couple of our snow storms and other glitches set us back a few days. But we are home, finally.

It has been a long, hard road to get here, and it is simply amazing how far we have come in such a relatively short amount of time. We are lucky, so very, very lucky. We are the third or so family home so far. But it is comforting to look out the window and see the contractors in our neighbors’ houses!

I know now what they don’t quite realize yet. Their homes are going to be beautiful once again, and most likely better than they were before! I cannot even describe the emotions of coming home to a beautifully rebuilt home, after all we have been through.

It would have never been possible, though, without the hard work, generosity, and compassion of all of our neighbors. Not just our neighbors in Hammond, Zumbro Falls, Mazeppa, Millville, Elgin, Plainview and Rochester, but also our neighbors in Rushford and Winona area who know all too well the nightmare we are going through, our neighbors from Minneapolis, Wisconsin, Iowa, and reaches farther than anyone will ever know.

From our school districts, to church groups, to motorcycle clubs, teen-agers, retirees, sentence-to-serve program…. the diversity of mid-westerners that rallied around us and embraced us and fed us and clothed us and held us and cried with us, and wiped our tears and told us we would be ok…

It has all been a truly amazing demonstration of humanity…. indescribable. I am very proud to live in such a wonderful place, and eternally grateful to each and every person who has already, and those who are still to come, for all of your help. There is still a lot, I mean a lot, of work left to be done, and I know that with such wonderful people surrounding us that it will be done.

Thank you and God Bless You All – The Mann Family

© Copyright 2011 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Ongoing stories of flood recovery in Hammond, Jarrett and Zumbro Falls January 5, 2011

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 8:50 AM
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

THREE MONTHS AGO I met four strong women from Wabasha County.

They had survived devastating late September floods that ravaged their communities and left two of them homeless.

Since then, I’ve kept in contact with one of those survivors, Katie Shones of tiny Hammond. The floodwaters of the Zumbro River stopped within feet of her front door. Now, that might be enough for Katie to breathe a sigh of relief and continue on with her life. But not Katie. She cares about her hamlet of Hammond and the residents she considers family.

 

A flood-damaged home and garage in Hammond, along the same street where Katie Shones and her family live. I took this photo only 2 1/2 weeks after the late September flood devastated the area.

I CARE, TOO, and I’ve promised Katie that I will continue telling the story of this region. In the always changing world of natural disasters, we quickly forget about a flood or an earthquake or a tornado as they all blend seamlessly together. That may sound harsh, but I know it is honest reality.

Katie e-mailed a few days ago, after I selected eight posts on the September flooding as my personal favorite Minnesota Prairie Roots stories for 2010.

In her message, Katie updated me on the recovery situation in Hammond and neighboring Zumbro Falls and Jarrett.

First, she tells me that her brother and his wife, whose main street Zumbro Falls home had water almost up to the first floor ceiling, have purchased a home “way high up on the hill” two miles south of Zumbro Falls. Did you catch that “way high up on the hill” part?

Her dear friend and family, who were living in a hotel and making mortgage payments on an uninhabitable residence, returned to their Hammond home the day after Christmas. “They are so grateful to be back,” Katie writes.

Another resident has moved into a new trailer house on her lot in Hammond. Some 80 percent of the homes and most of the businesses in the community of 230 were flooded.

Katie’s mother-in-law is still shuttling between family members’ homes and hasn’t decided what she will do. Her home of 53 years, two miles down river from Jarrett, had floodwaters flowing out of first floor windows.

Susie Shones, whom I interviewed and who is married to Katie’s husband’s cousin, is now temporarily renting a trailer home above Jarrett. Six feet of floodwaters forced Susie and her husband out of their first Jarrett rental house. Ironically, says Katie, the limestone bluffs surrounding Hammond and Jarrett are among the highest elevation points in Wabasha County.

Businesses along the street where Katie lives are beginning to recover. The bank has reopened. The bar is expected to reopen in March. And the restaurant owner is hard at work remodeling his building.

 

Minnwest Bank in Hammond, by Katie's home, has reopened.

The partially-gutted restaurant interior, photographed on October 10, 2010, is now being renovated.

“OTHER THAN THAT, not much happening in Hammond and the surrounding area due to the weather,” Katie writes. “Hammond continues to look like a ghost town. Every other street light is shut off and the majority of the homes are dark. I keep expecting to see coyotes roaming the streets……”

© Copyright 2010 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

An update from flood-ravaged Hammond & Floodfest 2010 November 12, 2010

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 5:27 PM
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

WHEN I MET KATIE SHONES a month ago outside her Hammond home across Wabasha County Road 11 from the Zumbro River, she was angry. She was waiting for President Barack Obama to issue a disaster declaration that would begin the process of rebuilding her flood-ravaged community of 230.

Some 80 percent of the homes in her town, and most if not all of the businesses, were damaged by late September floodwaters. She was one of the lucky ones; the water stopped several feet from her front door.

A flood-damaged home and garage in Hammond, photographed in mid-October..

Yet, the impact on her community, on family and friends, left Katie reeling.

We’ve exchanged several e-mails since our mid-October meeting. With Katie’s permission, I am sharing here, in her words, how she and others have been impacted, why she is frustrated and how you can help.

Interestingly enough, Katie begins her first e-mail with a definitive choice of words that truly causes me to pause. She terms the people of southeastern Minnesota “flood survivors,” adding this in parenthesis: (notice I did not say flood victim!).

Right away I ask her to explain why that differentiation is so important.

I prefer the term survivor. The flood is over, it is time to get on with life, move forward and face all the challenges head on. Victim sounds like you are allowing someone or something to take advantage of you. It sounds downtrodden, depressed. I see people of all ages doing what midwesterners do best “pulling themselves up by the bootstraps.”

So who are these people, these strong, strong people whom Katie knows?

My brother’s house is in Zumbro Falls – main street – and had water almost up to the first floor ceiling. They can rebuild if they want providing the first floor is 1.7 ft above the 100 year flood plain. At this point, my brother and his wife will spend the winter at my mom’s and decide what to do in the Spring, as to whether they will raise the existing house up 1.7 ft, rebuild or move to a different home. They did have flood insurance.

My mother-in-law’s home is approximately 2 miles down river from Jarrett. She has lived in that house for 53 years and in that time her house had never once flooded except for this Sept. The flood waters came out of the first floor windows. She did not have flood insurance because she is not in the flood plain. The house is stripped down to the stud walls and she plans on fixing up the house and moving back in sometime this coming year. She has signed up for the free insulation and sheet rock. A son and a son-in-law will do the re-wiring.

For now, Katie’s 75-year-old widowed mother-in-law is bouncing among her five daughters’ homes.

My dear friend and her family have been living in a hotel room since the flood occurred. They still have to make the mortgage payment on their uninhabitable home plus come up with the money for the hotel…….

She details in a follow-up email that her friend’s family has now found a house to rent in Rochester for the winter and will fix up their Hammond home and move back as soon as they can. Three generations lived in that house, which lies in the 500-year flood plain and saw floodwaters rise more than two feet into the first floor.

I can only think that for the trio of flood survivor stories Katie has shared with me, there are hundreds more. She continues:

To be honest with you, I have not talked with many of my former neighbors. I do not know where some of them have moved to. A few Hammondites cannot rebuild because they are in the flood way. Some are walking away because they never want to go through anything like this ever again. I get the feeling the majority of residents will rebuild. Hammond is their home. Some will remodel and others are talking about putting in trailer houses or modular homes.

The exposed side of a restaurant/grocery in Hammond, where a portion of a building once stood. A month ago the ruins lay in a heap in the street.

Katie praises those who have come to the aid of flood survivors.

Many volunteer organizations have come in to the area and have done an amazing job.  People and groups have helped tear down damaged walls and floors, picked up junk and debris, local restaurants and businesses have brought in meals. One church organization is donating insulation and sheet rock to flood damaged homes and the labor to put the materials up!!! Others have come in and power washed basements and walls to prevent black mold.

Volunteers are still needed. Call the Hammond City Hall at (507) 753-2086 and leave a message stating that you are willing to help and what special skills you can offer.

With the exception of winter wear, clothing donations are not needed. Furniture is welcomed, Katie says, adding though that many survivors have no place to store anything.

Monetary donations for flood relief may be directed to:

MinnWest Bank – Rochester, 331 16th Ave NW, Rochester, MN. 55901

People’s State Bank, 100 4th Ave SE, Plainview, MN. 55964

While Katie appreciates the kindness and help of so many, she remains frustrated with the government.

What is so maddening is the government’s response to the homeowners. I have been told that the reason there is so little assistance to the individual is because so few homes (only 604 homes) were affected. That shouldn’t make any difference. A home is a home and these people still need a place to live. Many have moved in with family members. I think the biggest thing people can do is call their elected officials and express outrage at how this entire tragedy has been handled. I truly believe that the average Minnesotan does not realize the extent of devastation in Wabasha County, the hardest hit county during the flood.

THIS WEEKEND YOU CAN JOIN flood relief efforts by attending Floodfest 2010 at Bluff Valley Campground, 61297 390th Ave., Zumbro Falls. Proceeds will benefit those impacted by the southeastern Minnesota flood. The event begins today at 5 p.m with a fish fry and continues until 1 a.m. Floodfest then resumes at 7 a.m. Saturday with a prayer service followed by a pancake breakfast. The weekend is jam-packed with music, a kids’ carnival, sporting activities, a bake sale, silent auction, arts and crafts and more. Click here for more information.

A Zumbro Falls home destroyed by the September flood.

© Copyright 2010 Audrey Kletscher Helbling