Another Trip to the House

So what exactly does wind and waves do to a flooded house? It does this.....



And this...



And this.



All you could do was say, "oh my goodness. oh my goodness." There are no words.

But here's something a little more fun - my brother Nate and I on the boat!



More pictures of house and farm from today HERE.

stephaniestoller.shutterfly.com

Weekend Update

It's been a couple of days since I've written anything! The weekend just kind of flew by, although every day feels like the weekend when you're a teacher on summer break! :)

Things are switching now to more of a recovery mode. The Big Ditch is holding and it's becoming more safe to say it held. woo hoo! People that live on the dry side of the Big Ditch are slowly starting to move back to their homes. What a relief for them! I only wish I was helping my parents move back in this week!

We had quite a bit of rain the past few days, as much as three inches in some areas. However, the water is continuing to go down in the flooded area, which is obviously great! The terrible part has been the wind. High wind has been causing havoc for structures that are weak or have seemingly made it so far. There were supposedly 6-8 foot waves in the water. Imagine those crashing on a weak house. Seems like the water should've been enough. Why the wind now, too?

Mom, Dad, Nikki, and I went to the Big Ditch today to look. You can obviously tell the water is down. We looked through some binoculars towards our house. It's hard to completely tell, but it looks like some siding is off the front of the house, underneath the bay window. sigh. Dad is hoping to get out on the boat tomorrow and I'm going to try to tag along.

I went to church this morning and ended up in a small group of ten people, a few that had been affected by the flood. One woman and her husband had lost their entire crop, a machine shed, and their brand-new grain bin. She was obviously very upset by this, but her faith was strikingly strong. She mentioned Job and how he had lost everything, but God had rewarded him with even more because of his faith. That's what this woman was holding to. She had faith that in the midst of losing their income for this year, God would provide and would bless them with more. Wow! It was a great reminder of what God is all about and His faithfulness to us.

"The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away;
may the name of the LORD be praised." ~Job 1:21

Flood Pictures

I'm in the process of putting pictures on a website called Shutterfly. Between myself and Mom's camera, I now have over 700 pictures of the flood, with more to come no doubt. Not all 700 will make the site, but I plan to add more as I go.

I'll put the link below. Right now there are about 140 pictures, organized into albums such as "Oakville Aerials", "Stoller Farm," etc. I intend to caption each picture, but haven't had the time to do so yet. Hopefully this weekend.

I know the aerial pictures I have on Facebook have been passed around to many, many people here in Iowa. That's great! Please feel free to pass along this Shutterfly link, also. The same aerial pictures that were on Facebook are also on this, along with a few more. They're better quality on Shutterfly. Also, you can right-click on any picture and save it to your computer. You also have the option to order prints. Please feel free to take a few if you want. That's why they're there.

View the pictures here:

http://stephaniestoller.shutterfly.com

Scroll down a little further on this page and you can see some house pictures I posted here.

P.S. Grandma (Stoller) and I spent the morning going through old pictures. One of our projects this summer is to sort through her pictures and organize them. I found some old ones of when the house was first built and when Grandpa and Grandma lived there. I'll skip the kid pictures of me and try to scan some of the farm. :)

The House and Farm

Here's a few pictures of the house and farm we took from the boat Wednesday night. Painful.

On the road to the house:



Front Bay Window:



Sliding door to kitchen/deck:



Kitchen window and back door:



Mom and Dad's bedroom - auughh!!!!



Inside Nate's old room - built-in cabinets down:



The grain bins:

First Visit to the House

Nate and I watched as Dad backed the jon boat into the water by the Big Ditch, the very spot we should be driving on. We slowly took off, over fields of what was flourishing corn and soybeans. Two weeks ago the crop was green and gorgeous. Now, even though it can't be seen, we know it is brown and limp, suffocated by the rushing water. Dad watches the depth finder and notes when we have gone over a drainage ditch, as the water depth jumps a few feet.

We turn down the road that leads to our house - 250th Street. We go by electric posts, which only look like twigs sticking out of the water. We slow down as we approach our neighbor's house. The line of trees in their yard tells the story of the water simply from the water line distinguishing live, green branches from dead, brown ones. We gasp as we see their house, several feet in water, crippled from being off the foundation. We know they will not be our neighbors again.

Continuing down the road, we pass the sign alerting us there is a left turn in the road ahead. The only way you can tell there is a turn is by following the electric lines - and by seeing our house straight ahead. I remark that the house doesn't seem as blue as it was, like the water had stolen the paint, too. We made a right turn into the south driveway, the driveway I was always ecstatic to pull into after a long twelve hour day of driving from Texas. As we turn, it is obvious the huge, front bay window is gone. Inside, we catch glimpses of insulation and ceiling hanging down. Where a picture of my siblings and I was is now just a smear of ugly, brown mud.

We coast by the apple tree, a tree we have gleaned fruit from for as long as I can remember. Years of Grandma's applesauce has been lovingly been made from those apples since I was a little girl. A few green apples survive in the top branches, but the expected bumper crop this year will not be. The lilac bush, my favorite, is unseen in the muddy waters.

Slowly, we approach the house closer. We stop right above the deck, a place we should be spending our summer evenings. The sliding glass door is in jagged pieces; the vertical blinds are permanently stained brown. Nate looks closer and views a caved-in kitchen ceiling. The doors of Mom's dream cabinets - barely two years old - are missing. Dad picks something floating out of water. It's a cabinet door, in shreds.

Floating around the house, it is obvious all of the glass windows have been broken, freely allowing the water and other creatures to pass through. Built-in cabinets, standing tall since the house was built, are now helplessly crumpled. The back door, the one we always used, is barely on the hinges, appearing uninviting. Thirteen days ago that little blue rancher was a sturdy, cozy house for so many that called it home. Now it sits, wood rotting, walls sogging, unfixable, never to be lived in again.

We turn down "the lane," creeping through farm buildings. Amazingly, the barn looks decent, although it would need repairs. Three of the four bins have fallen or are tilting. The other, the newest and biggest, appears to be slightly tilting, but water has the opportunity to play tricks on the eyes. We pray it isn't, as that will cripple the farming operation.

Continuing down the road, we grieve for our neighbors. A garage is torn off. Windows shattered. Walls missing. On one house, the only thing standing on the front wall is the studs. Propane tanks float around like a water bottle in the pool. Hogs, legs raised to the heavens, attract flies and let off a pungent smell.

Utter devastation. Life altering affects. The very thing that so many in this area enjoy recreationally in the summer has now cost homes and livelihoods for those very people. Nature is cruel, but God is faithful.

"I’ll praise You in this storm
And I will life my hands
For You are who You are
No matter where I am
Every tear I’ve cried
You hold in Your hand
You never left my side
And though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm."

~"Praise You in the Storm", Casting Crowns

Levee Run

Earlier today Dad took me out on the levees to see all the sandbagging. It is unbelievably enormous. There's a TEN MILE stretch of sand, tarps, and sandbags on top of the levee, which prevented the water from going over. Ten miles!! Dad talked about what an incredible operation it was bringing in the sand, sandbags, and getting it all done. We rode all the way from the pumping station where Dad works to the Big Ditch. Here's some pictures from the ride:

The Pumping Station!



Our ride!



Miles of sandbags:



All the trash that floated up with the water:



This is what a boil looks like. Water goes underneath the levee and pops up on the other side. It boils like a pot of boiling water. They place sandbags around it to try to contain it.



You can tell how high the water got by the looking at the brown mud left on the tarp. It was literally inches from the top of the sandbags!



The never ending sandbags:



I also drove up Highway 99 a bit to see the water. Here's a picture of the bottoms. You can see the waterline (between the green crops and brown), and how much the water has receded:



I'm about to leave now and go on the boat with Dad and Nate to see the house. This will be my first time up close. The water has gone down enough that we might be able to see what sort of damage has been done. Yikes.

A Quick Update...

Not a ton new to report today! The biggest praise is that both rivers are continuing to go down and the Big Ditch is continuing to hold!! Everyone relaxed on the Big Ditch yesterday. The water is still high, but everyone is feeling much better about it. In fact, Des Moines County lifted the mandatory evacuation for everyone south of the Big Ditch yesterday, which says a lot! We're not completely past the danger zone, but it's definitely looking better. I would say it's much more likely to hold rather than break at this point. That's great, because there was one day last week everyone was expecting it to break in a matter of hours!! God has strong hands!

Dad said that the Iowa River is expected to stop flowing into the flooded bottoms by the weekend. woo hoo!! Now they can concentrate more on getting the water out! You can already see in some places where the water has receded, but there's SO much more to go. Once the Mississippi goes down more, it will drain quicker. At some point, the rest of the water will have to pumped out, which will be Dad's job!

Sometime in the next few days, Dad is going to take me on a tour of the levees to see all of the work that's been done with sandbagging and everything. I'm looking forward to that and will be sure to have my camera! He's also going to take all of us on the boat to the house, most likely tomorrow. The water is getting low enough that we might not be able to do this anymore soon. (Now, keep in mind that it's not necessarily because the water itself is low - it's still a good 12-15 feet or so. The reason is that you don't know what's underneath the water, especially what may have floated with the water, and therefore you don't want to run into anything with the boat!). The water has always been up to the roof of the house, so it will be interesting to see what the house looks like now that we may be able to see some windows.

Mom and Dad also have a place to stay, which is another huge answer to prayer! Thanks to some good friends, they're going to stay in a house not too far from our farm, just on the dry side of the Big Ditch. It will be convenient for Dad since it will be between his work and the farm. They'll move in sometime in the coming weeks. (Thanks Christy and the Bell family! :)

I've been hearing that my aerial pictures on Facebook are being passed around quite a bit, which is great! I would like to post them and some more somewhere where people can download or order prints easily. Anyone have any good ideas? I know there's Shutterfly and Flickr, but have never personally used either. I want it to be as easy as just clicking on a link to get to the pictures to make it easy for others to get to. Several people have said they're the best flood pictures they've seen! That's great! I'm glad I was in the spot to be able to document this tragedy.

Thanks for reading! :)

P.S. I just looked at my post and it's fairly long!! Here I said it was going to be a quick update with not much new and I wrote a ton!! Oh well! :)

Aerial Video

Here is an aerial video I took last week. It starts with Oakville on the left, pans all of the flooding to the Big Ditch, and then back to Oakville. Excuse my silly hand at one point! It looks like a lake with a few things sticking out. Absolutely incredible to see it from that view point.

Sunday Odds and Ends

Here's a random list of items! :)

1. The rivers (Iowa and Mississippi) are continuing to go down! The Iowa is predicted to be close to flood stage this coming weekend. It will take awhile for the Mississippi to go down, but it looks like it will go down at a fairly steady pace.

2. It hasn't rained in a week!!!!!! TOTAL praise!!!! This has greatly aided in the river going down and most likely paid a big part in the Big Ditch continuing to hold. We need it to stay dry for a little longer!

3. I was able to go to the Big Ditch today myself. I had tried a couple of other times, but the Guardsmen were patrolling and I wasn't able to get to it. Even though I've seen all of the pictures and saw it by air, it's a completely different thing to be at the water's edge, where there should be a road. There were all kinds of waves and white caps in the water. There's a pretty good current going through there, which is only further damaging everything. It's still not likely the water will be completely gone until August.

4. Mom and Dad took a boat to the house yesterday. I have pictures, which I will post soon. The water is still to the edge of the roof, so it's nearly impossible to see how much damage has been done. One of Dad's grain bins is leaning quite a bit. The water has gone down a couple of feet as you can see the water line. The neighbors' homes are not good. One house is off the foundation. Another's garage was torn off. Many are missing siding, shingles, and the glass is broken out of the windows. Sad.

5. I've been learning a lot about the history of the area and in my family. Lots of great blog ideas!

6. Thanks to those of you who have emailed and/or commented here or on Facebook. I'm sorry I haven't gotten back to most of you yet! Tomorrow I have no plans and no nephew-sitting commitments! Everyone will be at work, so I'm hoping to have some down time and get caught up on a few things, mainly communicating with friends!

7. Time to sleep - in a bed, in my own bedroom, without setting an alarm, and with the only thing on the morning agenda is getting coffee at the shop uptown!!! WOO HOO!! Never again will I take my simple one bedroom apartment for granted!

Good night! Have a great week!
steph

Meet Aunt Kate!

This is my great-aunt Kate. Her husband, Clem, was my Grandma Stoller's brother. Sadly, Clem passed away a year ago at the age of 92. Clem and Kate had been married for 65 years! Kate still lived in the house they had for years, until last week.

Not too long after Clem and Kate were married in 1941, they purchased some land and settled into a house in Huron Township. In the 1960s, they built the house Kate was still living in. It's where they raised their kids and had their grandkids over. Their daughter, Nancy, built a small house right next to them, and was still living there, helping her mom next door.

Clem and Kate lived just a mile down the road from us. I remember as a little girl stopping by their house and Clem would alway pinch my dimples or "steal" my nose. He was always known as the clown, and everyone loved his sense of humor, clear until he died. They had built up a beautiful yard with all kinds of flowers. When I rode my bike past their house, I would usually see Clem or Kate working in the yard. Oftentimes, I would see Clem riding around on the 4-wheeler. Even now, when Kate sees me, she says, "Well, there's Stephie!" and gives me the biggest squeeze ever. They were a delightful couple, and their love for each other was evident to all.

Sadly, now Clem and Kate's beloved home and yard is underwater. Kate, with the help of her family, was able to move all of her belongings out before it flooded. Kate lived most of her married life on that one plot of land. She and Clem were the only people that ever owned that house, for the past 40+ years. I saw Kate Friday at the womens' meeting, and I showed her pictures of her house. What amazed me is the comment she made:

One of the ladies - "Oh Kate, it's just so sad about your home. I'm so sorry."

Kate - "Sorry? Don't be sorry! It's ok because my real home is in heaven!!"

If only we could all have Kate's attitude towards our belongings. This is a woman who had every right to be devastated about her situation. Instead, she chose to look vertical and realize the things on earth are temporary. I learned a huge lesson that day. As she kissed me good-bye on my cheek, I could only hope and pray my attitude would be the same, now and when I'm 86, just like Aunt Kate.

A DELIGHTFUL AFTERNOON

I had an unexpected wonderful afternoon yesterday! I went to up to Mediapolis to visit Grandma Stoller and she took me to her Friendly Circle meeting, which is where a few women from her church get together for a social. It was myself and seven other ladies, including my grandma and my great aunt Kate (more on Kate later today!). Mind you, most of them were a good 50-60 years older than me!! But they've all known me since I was a baby, so it was fun to see them, and they delighted to see me.

We sat in the living room and caught up about family members, trips, and of course, the flood was the main topic of conversation. Everyone had been affected in some way, and even their church is cancelled this week because of the flooding. I brought my laptop and was able to show them all the aerial pictures of the flooding. They appreciated that, and we looked at the homes and talked about who had lived there.

They also talked about Oakville during the "good ol' days." I learned a lot!! Before the highway came, the railroad actually went through there. It was a booming town for the area and even had an operahouse! Who knew?!? Grandma talked about Grandpa playing in baseball games there, and they all talked about the little restaurants Oakville had. How sad that now it's basically gone and very well may never come back.

We then went in to the dining room and had coffee and dessert. But what I loved is that Ada, the hostess, had put a tablecloth on, and used crystal plates and water glasses, and cloth napkins. She even had china cups and saucers for the coffee! It was absolutely lovely! I think entertaining like that is an art we are losing, and I wish I saw it more! It was really special to be able to sit and listen to the ladies. You can learn so much!

Flood Notes

1. Big Ditch - had a bit of a scare yesterday as the boil is pretty good size. The levees are saturated. It's still holding, and at least I'm confident it will! It will still be a few days before it's safe, so keep praying!

2. Iowa River - it's going down fairly quickly and is predicted to be at or below flood stage by next Thursday. This will help because not as much water will drain into the flooded area.

3. Mighty Mississippi - This is not going down as quickly, but is going down. We need teh Mississippi to go down because then the water in our area will be able to drain.

4. FEMA - Mom and Dad are meeting with a FEMA rep this morning. Yay! They were impressed with how quickly that happened.

5. House - Mom and Dad have some good home offers. Totally been a God thing! They're hoping to go through a a house this weekend and really start making a plan in this direction.

Going to breakfast with Gramma, my great aunt Margie, Nate, and my two nephews! I'm going to start staying at my Grandma Stoller's tonight. I get to start sleeping in a bed! woo hoo!!

The Spirit of Iowans

I love Iowa. Anyone that knows me probably knows that. I brag about it in Texas. I claim it. When people ask where I'm from, it's always Iowa. My bathroom is completely decked out in black and gold. No matter where I live, I'll always be an Iowan.

What has continually amazed me throughout this disaster is the community spirit. I talked about it my email with people helping my parents move out. It's been evident all over with sandbagging, moving, and cleanup. It seems like you could almost ask anyone to do anything for you and they would flat out do it. In the midst of all the news stories, I've never heard anything about vandalism or looting. Amazing. This should be an example to society. Never have I been more proud to be affiliated with this state.

Here's a couple things I read that affirmed my belief in this. The first is a section from an article I found on foxnews.com today titled, "2 More Mississippi River Levees Burst, Bush and McCain Visit Flood-Soaked Region." It specifically talks about my hometown, but I know it's just like so many other Iowa (and midwest) communities.

-Foxnews.com, June 19, 2008

"Even before the Iowa River used the town of Oakville as a shortcut to the Mississippi, there wasn't much here: a post office, a convenience store, a tavern and a little restaurant.

The largest employer was a pork-and-grain producer called TriOak Foods. The company's towering grain elevator was the tallest structure for miles around.

Then the floodwaters that soaked Des Moines and Iowa City began inundating the region's small communities — most with skylines that consist only of a water tower and maybe a couple of church steeples.

As the rivers rise, these modest towns survive because neighbors look after each other, and the people reinforcing the levees are business owners, farmers and fellow church members who have lived there for years.

"My house is past help. So we're trying to save everybody else's," said Bethany Frank as she helped fill sandbags in a church parking lot in Oakville. Her home on the outskirts of town was flooded up to the roof."

The second piece is written by my cousin, Andy, and was posted on his MySpace. Andy also grew up in Iowa and was my playmate at Mack Christmases. I couldn't have said it better myself!

"It's times like these that I'm proud to be an Iowan...it's the years and years of floods, tornados, droughts, blizzards and countless other acts of mother nature that have made Iowans a strong and determined group of people. If the deluge of media reports from Iowa give you nothing else, let them show you what teamwork, treating your neighbor, or a complete stranger as family, and helping others because its the right thing to do is what it's all about. I experienced the floods of 1993...luckily no one in my family was negatively impacted by them. I wish I could say the same this year. For those following the events, you've surely heard of Oakville, Iowa and the breach of the levee protecting the town and thousands of acres of farmland from the Iowa River. After a valiant effort by so many, the river was just too much. All that was to be protected is now under water. This includes the home and farm of my aunt, uncle and cousins. I just saw two pictures that show that their home is now completely under water. My family and so many others affected have been consuming my thoughts lately. For those that do, please pray for all those affected and for those that don't, please keep them in your thoughts as I have been and will continue to do.



~andy"


Well said! We weren't able to go on the boat to see the house today, for reasons I'll explain later. We're planning to go out tomorrow. The Big Ditch is still holding, but keep praying. There's been some seepage and boils that's not good. Boils are when water seeps underneath the levee and comes up on the other side. The water is dropping fairly quickly, but still has a LONG way to go to get under the flood stage. I'm hoping we can start moving some people back into their homes sometime next week!

Dad is still not getting much sleep and is working the night shift. Keep praying for him, that he won't get too exhausted and will get ample time to rest. There's just been so many thoughts and stories. I need to take time to get them down, but two baby boys I know have been occupying quite a bit of my time! :) Mom and I went to the grocery store this afternoon to get a few things for dinner tonight. We were both in a complete daze. We realized after we had been in the store that we didn't have a cart, and it took us forever to pick out some meat. We just didn't care or feel like it. I know I keep saying it, but it all still very surreal.

I'm hoping to get away on my own this weekend for a bit and get some good God time in. I've been missing it this week!

Another late(ish) night!! I also need to start going to bed (or to the couch!) sooner!!!

Scroll down for the link of pictures. It's absolutely mind-boggling to me.

AERIAL PICTURES

I've posted some aerial pictures, about 45. I haven't finished all of the captions, but will get to it tonight. They're on my Facebook profile. If you have Facebook, you can get right on them and comment if you want. If you don't have Facebook, follow the link below and you'll be able to go through them. More later!!

Flood Pictures

A PRIMER ON LIFE IN SOUTHEAST IOWA

Some of you reading this are from SE Iowa, so you would know most/all of this. But many of you are my fantastic friends from Texas, and I know I've been throwing around a lot of names of people and places. So to put it all together, here's a little glossary of life here. (not in alphabetical order!). :)




24034 30th Avenue, Oakville, IA - our address (location marked with red star on map). We live in Des Moines County.

Oakville - a small town of about 400. No stop lights, not even a blinking one! Has a huge grain elevator, bank, post office, and a restaurant that changes hands every year or two! Our house is about eight miles from this town, but it's officially "our town." The levee broke right outside of Oakville, just to the west.

Mediapolis - about 12 miles from the farm. This is where I went to school, all the way from kindergarten to my senior year of high school, with pretty much the same 75ish kids in my grade! We are the Mepo Bulldogs! I claim Mepo as more "my town" since it's where I went to school (the kids who actually lived in Oakville went to Wapello). It has about 2,000 people and boasts three flashing stoplights!! This is where my Grandma Stoller-Rowell lives, as well as some other family.

Wapello - One of our biggest rivals in high school. Where I did part of my student teaching.

Burlington - When we say, "we're going to town," Burlington is where we go. It's about 25 miles away and has 25,000 people or so. It has many stoplights! :) My parents go to church here (Oak Street Baptist), it's where my Gramma Mack lives, as well as Nate, Kim, and Peyton. Most of Burlington is on a hill, so it wasn't flooded, except for some businesses downtown. It has the only Walmart, Target, etc. in the area. We're getting our FIRST Starbucks in ten days!!!!! I'll be there the morning it opens!!! :)

Gulfport, IL- right across the river from Burlington. This is where a major levee broke a couple of days.

Keithsburg, IL - just a little north and across the river from the farm. In the summers, we would take the boat over there quite often to eat at the Lighthouse or their Dairy Treat. A major levee broke there last weekend.

Highway 99 - a highway that begins in Wapello, goes through Oakville, and ends in Burlington. This is how you get to the farm.

Family



Christmas 2007 (our final Christmas in the house!) - left to right - sister Nicole, her son Adrian, Mom (Paula), Dad (Steve), me.




The Stoller Siblings!- left to right - Kim (Nate's fiancee), Nate (younger brother), Gramma Mack holding Peyton (Nate and Kim's son), Nicole with Adrian, me



Grandmas! On the left is my Gramma Mack, who is my mom's mom. She's the Gramma that comes and visits me in Texas occasionally. On the right is my Grandma (Stoller) Rowell, my dad's mom. She is my grandma that built the house that flooded. Love them both tons!!

So I've been helping take care of my two nephews this morning and it's taken me about two and a half hours to finish this!!! Guess that's what it feels like to be a mom! I'm going to try to get the aerial pictures posted this afternoon. We might also be taking a boat to the house today. I can't believe I just typed that sentence. "...take a boat to the house." Unreal. Even after seeing it with my own eyes last night, it's still surreal. For some reason, I still expect to be able to drive home this weekend. That won't happen for a couple months, if ever.

Flood Fly Over

It's late, and I'm tired, so I'm not going to write much now. But a few things...

1. The Big Ditch is still holding. Obviously, great news! Still a chance it could break, but with the river starting to go down, it's looking better.

2. Des Moines County was declared a Federal Disaster Area. Not that anyone would ever want that, but it's a sigh of relief because now my parents are eligible for FEMA funding.

3. Mom, Dad, and I went with Dave in the plane tonight. I can't even begin to describe it. I saw the house. Heartwrenching. We flew up the Mississippi, all over our area, by Oakville, and then we followed the Iowa River to Columbus Junction. Between myself and my parents, we took almost 250 pictures, along with a short video. I'll find a place to post them tomorrow and link it to this site. But for now, here's the farm:



Peyton was a joy today! Mom and I are going to run some errands tomorrow and see my other Grandma, the one who built our house. She's very discouraged, so hopefully I can cheer her up a bit!

Much more Thursday morning!!!

steph

First Day in Iowa...

It's been a bit of a long day. I made it to Burlington just in time to have lunch with Mom and Gramma. If you were on the news at all Tuesday, you may have seen that a levee broke in Gulfport, IL, which is exactly across the river from Burlington. Mom, Gramma, and I went to a river viewpoint called Mosquito Park, where we could see the water flooding into Illinois from that levee break. Incredible.

After my brother and sister got off work, we headed up the highway to see the house. THANKFULLY, the Big Ditch has not broken!! Total praise!! It's not out of the woods yet, but the river is starting to fall, so it's looking more likely it will hold! woo hoo! That's great for so many people! I admit, I had point today where I told God, "you know, You easily could've held the other levee just like You're holding the Big Ditch." I know there's purpose, and I still have faith, but I wasn't understanding it. Unfortunately, when we got to the road that lead to the Big Ditch, there were a couple of Guardsmen at the road, and they wouldn't let us go pass. So, I have yet to see the house, although when the fear goes down on the Big Ditch in a couple of days, I should be able to get there.

Dad was able to get a few hours of sleep in this evening, which was absolutely needed. He only slept an hour last night and hasn't slept more than four hours in one night for the past week. Before he headed off to work again at 11 p.m., just Dad, Mom, Nikki, Nate, and I spent some time together and talked about the situation. It was good to be all together.

The biggest prayer request right now is housing. Mom, Nikki and Adrian are staying at my gramma's, but it's only an apartment and they need more room, especially when Dad stops working nights. They've had several offers from people to let them use a space in their home or an empty house, which is great!! They need to think about those offers and see what else is out there. They know they can't be choosy, but location is a big deal to them. They're also unsure how long they'll be there. It's possible they'll be staying somewhere for a year, so they want to make sure they find a place they can live in for that long, but is in a good location and is financially reasonable. At the point, they are not making a decision as to whether they will rebuild at the farm or find another place. It's likely the water won't be completely gone until August. They won't make a decision until they see it and how much damage there is.

Mom took a TON of pictures of the house, inside and out, the day they moved out. I was looking at those, and it made me a bit emotional, especially knowing I'll never see it again like that. I never would've imagined I wouldn't be able to make the drive down the gravel road and pull into my driveway. Now the only way to get there is by boat.

Here's the house just a day before it flooded. Nothing fancy, but my family took pride in it and loved it!



Mom also had some great before and after pictures of the area. I've put them side by side so you can see the difference. These were all taken within a day of each other. All of that water went SEVEN MILES before it reached our area. That tells you how fast it was moving. It's estimated to be around 25 feet deep.









Mom has a cousin, Dave, who owns a small airplane. He's offered to take my whole family up and over all of the flooded area. We're looking forward to doing that in the next couple of days. The view will be astounding!

In the meantime, this is the sweet little guy I get to spend the day with Wednesday! Aunt duties are starting already, and I'm going to be taking care of my precious, 6-month-old nephew, Peyton. I'm excited, as I've only seen him twice since he was born! We're going to snuggle, giggle, and take a stroll through the park!




As always, thanks for praying! :)

stephanie

Halfway to Iowa!

I'm in Springfield! Thanks for praying! It was probably the easiest and quickest trip I've made! I settled in with my venti iced mocha, a recent Stonebriar sermon (thanks Leigh Ann!), my iPod and was off!

The Big Ditch is still holding - thankfully!! My family and lots of others were up sandbagging it today to try to save it. It's hanging in there. The crest at the Iowa River is supposed to happen tomorrow. If it can hold for another day or so, it may make it! If it holds, it will save the homes of hundreds of people and thousands of farmland. Praying Christy!!!!

The house is now completely underwater. Nate said there's all kinds of trash floating around and you can already see a brown sludge on the house. If the Big Ditch holds, I'll be able to go tomorrow afternoon and see it for myself. If it breaks, I won't have a chance to see it, as the Big Ditch is the only visible viewpoint.

I've had to look at the road conditions for Missouri and Iowa to see if my usual route is open or not from the flooding. Weird. I usually just look at the road conditions to see how much snow is on the roads. I'll have to take a bit of a detour, but it shouldn't add more than an hour to my trip. I'm hoping to be in by 1:00 Tuesday afternoon.

Here's a few links if you're interested. The first goes to a video showing aerial video of Oakville and the neighborhood that was flooded. You'll have to listen to the lovely Southeastern Community College ad. Yes, yes, I went there. Lots of stories there, huh Jen?! My favorite - government class. :)

The Hawkeye Video

Next is an article on Fox News. My hometown, Oakville, made the top story. I even went to church with Bob Lanz, the person interviewed. Weird again. Not that I'm happy about that, at least in this circumstance.

Fox News Article


Then there's this video. When I got to the hotel tonight, I (addictively) turned on Fox News. "On the Record with Greta" was on. Just a few minutes into it, she had a phone interview with the Louisa County Sheriff and Oakville was splashed as the headline. They also interviewed the pastor of the church I went to while at the University of Iowa (Parkview). WEIRDEST. Who expected to turn on the cable news and see two people they know and pictures of a town of 400?! It's all surreal.....here's the video:

Fox News Video

Good night!! Tomorrow could be rough...

stephanie

Whew!

What a crazy past 24 hours! I officially logged 3,700 flight miles on three separate flights, touched down in four time zones (Alaskan, Pacific, Mountain, Central) and ate a great meal with friends at Dickey's. I ended up leaving Alaska early and took a midnight flight out of Anchorage, which took me through San Francisco and Denver before arriving in Dallas. By the time I got to my apartment, I don't think my body knew which day or time it was!

Not much has changed today with the flooding. The water reached my parents' quicker than expected and it was much higher than they anticipated at first. When I talked to Nate (my brother) in early afternoon, the water hadn't quite reached the roof of the house, but it was going up. Dad and his co-worker Tim did break part of the Mississippi River levee to help drain the water coming in.

Now everyone has their eye on the Hawkeye-Dolby Diversion, known to everyone as the "Big Ditch." As previously mentioned in an email, this is preventing the water go any further. However, there is a decent chance it could also break, flooding hundreds and hundreds of acres of farmland, and many, many homes. We're praying it doesn't!

I've been in more of a state of shock and disbelief the past few days. I know the levee has broken and I of course believe my family when they tell me where the water is. But I hadn't seen it with my own eyes yet. It's hard for me to even imagine. Unfathomable, actually. Mom has taken a bunch of pictures, but the camera-computer cord is somewhere packed in the semi, so she can't upload right now! Thanks to Jen. She was also in the area today, took some pictures, and emailed them to me. (Prepare to hear a LOT about Jen. We've known each other since elementary school, but have officially claimed best friends since a very specific speech contest our sophomore year of high school. 13 years!!! :)

Even after seeing the pictures, it's still a bit unbelievable to me. After talking to Nate again tonight, I don't think the full impact will hit me until I see it myself. I know the house will never be livable in again. I know the crops are destroyed. I know the Stoller farm as I've known it my entire life is gone. But I can't comprehend it yet. I'm a bit afraid for the moment I will. The road I spent my entire childhood on is now washed away.

I'm attaching a few pictures Jen took today, from the Big Ditch. One zooms in a bit more on the farm, the others are of the neighborhood. Mom has before and after pictures of the area. I'm anxious to get ahold of those to make the compare/contrast. By the way, you can click on the pictures to make them larger.

The neighborood:



30th Avenue - our road - our farm is the furthest on the right:


A close-up of the farm - utter disbelief!


Keep praying. My family is still very busy, especially my dad. He's barely slept. I don't know how he's doing it! I am starting the drive up on Monday. I usually do the 12 hour drive in one day, but after traveling, I'm splitting it up. I'll stay in Springfield, MO Monday night and get home by noon on Tuesday. I'll probably be up there most of the summer.

I know this has gotten to be a long post, but I have one more thing! Someone reminded me of the hymn, "The Solid Rock." I think we sang it every Sunday in the Apostolic church I grew up in! But the lyrics are perfect, especially for this situation, so I end with those:

1. My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

Refrain:
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.

2. When darkness veils His lovely face,
I rest on His unchanging grace;
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.

3. His oath, His covenant, His blood
Support me in the whelming flood;
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my hope and stay.

Thanks again for praying!! Special thanks to my friends that met me for BBQ tonight! I needed that! :)

stephanie

Here goes.....

I'm officially blogging.

A few suggested I do this since I'm going to be spending the summer helping with the flood recovery. Writing the emails about what has been going on recently has been therapeutic for me. I know there will be endless updates, stories, and pictures to post, and this seems to be the best way to do it.

Besides that, I feel like God has really gotten ahold of me recently, and it's exciting. Along with flood updates, I may share bits and pieces of what God is teaching me. I know this experience is going to be a summer-long mission trip. And so I say to God - go to it!

Bookmark me, RSS me, whatever. This is a work in progress. Feel free to leave comments!

Below I have posted the original emails I sent out as we were anticipating the levee break if you need to catch up!

Emails Sent Saturday, June 14th - "The Day"

#1 sent at 2:23 p.m.:

It's just wait-and-see now.

Everything is officially out of the house now and the semi has been moved to higher ground. The country has set the evacuation deadline for Monday morning at 8:00 a.m., which means after that time, my parents will no longer be able to go back to the house.

The river is going up big time. When this started last Tuesday, the river crest prediction was 29 feet. As of this morning, it is predicted to crest at 35.5 feet sometime on Monday, a dramatic difference of 6.5 feet. Yesterday, the Iowa River rose three feet - just in one day. This morning, it was on track to keep raising at that rate. The Mississippi River is also raising quite a bit, which doesn't help matters at all. Also, as of this morning, the river was only 27 inches from the top of the levee (the levee we're concerned about). According to the predictions, there's still 3.5 feet for the river to go up, many more inches than what is left at the levee. If the water goes over, the levee will be washed out. By all accounts, it looks like the levee breaking is inevitable. I'm still trying to have faith, but the moods at home are very sober and grim. Keep praying!!!!

I know this can be hard to see without a visual, so me, being a tiny bit of the geek I am, have provided one! It's attached as a picture. I took a Google Earth image of the area and made some comments on it. :)

I never, never would've believed this would happen just a week ago! Thanks for your notes and prayers!

Stephanie




#2 sent at 5:33 p.m.:

I'd like an order of good news with a side of peace, please.

It seems like every time I get a phone call or look at a website today, it's not good news. This morning the officials pulled everyone off the sandbagging effort at the Iowa River levee because it was getting too dangerous. There's nothing else that can be done. The crest prediction has risen to 36.1 feet. It has risen 5 feet in the last 24 hours and will continue to rise for the next two - three days. Severe thunderstorms went through Iowa City/Cedar Rapids earlier this afternoon and home is supposed to get rain tonight or tomorrow.

As I mentioned in the earlier email, my parents were going to have to be out by 8 a.m. Saturday. Mom was at the house this morning and three sheriff deputies showed up and told her she had to leave then. They waited for her and then followed her out of the area. The officials are patrolling the area, and no one is allowed back in. Officials have extended the mandatory evacuation all the way to Burlington. It's 20 miles from Oakville to Burlington and everyone between Highway 99 and the Mississippi River has to leave. That's hundreds of people and hundreds of farms being affected. I cannot even fathom the amount of devastation if all of that was to flood. It would be thousands and thousands of crops lost.

Pray especially for my dad. He's barely slept in the last few days. He had been working at the farm during the day and at his job with the river pumps during the night. He's only gotten a few hours of sleep here and there on a cot. He said he just has to do whatever he can to help the area. I'm proud of him! My family is now helping others move out, ironically a family that had just helped them move out a few days ago.

Thanks again!!!
steph


#3 sent at 6:32 p.m.:

The levee broke. In a matter of hours, my family's farm will be completely underwater. I can't believe it. I was really hoping it would hold.

More later.

steph


#4 sent at 10:15 p.m.:

I know this is the fourth email today and I promise it will be my last! :)

It has been a wild ride this afternoon! My mom called me hysterically telling me the levee had broken. I also talked to my BFF Jen in Iowa (what would I have done without you today, Jen?!? :). Her brother Brian is the county engineer, and she also said it had broken. Then a couple hours later, my brother Nate called me to say the levee officially hadn't broken yet, which totally perplexed me! What happened is that the levee did break, but underneath it, and somehow the sand sank, temporarily stopping the flooding. A group of National Guardsmen were sent to the spot and they started piling anything on the levee they could to try to stop it. Nate called me back just a few minutes ago and said the levee was seeping enough that the Guardsmen were pulled back and then the levee fully broke, starting the flooding. Officials estimate it will take about six hours for the water to reach my parents'.

Now the biggest concern is the Big Ditch, which is at the bottom of that picture I sent. The Big Ditch is a levee that was made to take in extra water from the Mississippi, and to also help drain the farmland in that area. It's not a very big levee. The fear is that there will be too much water from the other levee break and the Big Ditch will not hold. If it doesn't, it will be even more disastrous. It's unfathomable to me actually! To help with that, my dad (Steve) and his co-worker Tim are currently sitting in an excavator on top of the Mississippi levee near the Big Ditch, right next to my parents' house. When the water starts to get close, they are going to start digging on top of the levee. This will allow the other water to drain and hopefully take enough pressure off the Big Ditch so it doesn't break. Pray for Dad and Tim. That's not exactly a safe job!!

My mind has been in Iowa for the past few days, which I'm sure I've made a lovely houseguest for Davita! I actually changed my flight and will be taking an overnight flight out of Anchorage tonight. I'll be arriving in Dallas Sunday afternoon (thanks for the ride Julie!!!). Most likely I'll drive to Iowa on Monday. I know I can't do anything, but my mom keeps telling me that she wishes I was there. I need to get there soon!

Thank you, thank you, thank you for all of your prayers. We all really appreciate it. I don't know what will happen next, but I know it will be a very long recovery. Now I'm praying that God will really be shown through this. I hope I can be a witness. What an enormous mission field, right in my hometown and in my own family. My only hope now is we would grow closer as a family and many would grow closer to God through this experience.

Thanks for enduring with me. These emails have been great for me to think and vent! :) I think I'll start a blog with pictures soon....

Texas friends! I'm going to be in town for just a bit. I'd love to see anyone!! I'll just throw this out.....if you're free (and want to!), how about meeting at Dickey's at Spring Creek and Preston at 7:00 Sunday night? Anyone is welcome.....pass it around.

I'm done for today - I PROMISE!!!!! :)
stephanie

Email Sent Friday, June 13th

Hello again!

We're starting to enter the most critical days on the flood. If you were on the news at all yesterday, you couldn't have missed the coverage on Cedar Rapids. Unbelievable. Cedar Rapids is a little over an hour north of my parents. Unfortunately, the Cedar River, which is causing havoc in Cedar Rapids, dumps into the Iowa River before it goes by my parents'. So that's what is headed towards us in the coming days. (Side note - I say "us" and "we" like I'm there, even though I'm far away! But no matter what, that little 275 acreage always has been and always will be home!). In addition, my parents' farm received about two inches of rain last night and Cedar Rapids/Iowa City received 3-4 inches. More rain in an already saturated ground only means higher river levels. Even the street I lived on when I went to the University of Iowa is closed because of flooding! Between all of this and horrific tornado that went through the Boy Scout camp, what is happening to my beloved state?!? However, I don't think I've ever been more proud to say I'm an Iowan! :)

On Thursday morning, my family received notice that they were under a mandatory evacuation. This stepped up the moving process, and they were able to get nearly everything out and in the semi yesterday. This morning they are moving out all of the appliances and will finish up. What a relief to know that even though you may lose the house, you were able to save all of the contents. Others are not so fortunate. Not only were they able to get all of the household items, they were able to get most of Dad's farming equipment out. Dad had an enormous shop full of tools and two barns to go through.

What struck me the most yesterday was the true community spirit of those around my family. By the end of the morning, my parents had 25 people out helping them. My dad's brothers and cousins were there, as well as a group of 15 people from my parents' church. They didn't call or ask, they just took the day off work and showed up. It was incredibly encouraging and humbling to us. There's a sandbagging effort going on at the levee to help support it. 1500 people turned out to sandbag all day in an effort to save a town of 400 people and about 40 farms. Wow! I've even had people from Iowa who I only see a couple times a year contact me yesterday to tell me they were praying. What a blessing! Now, don't get upset at me for saying this :), but I miss the community spirit you find so much in rural areas. In an age of privacy fences, endless busyness, and "keeping up with the Joneses," we easily get self-absorbed and miss out on opportunities to love and sacrifice for others (myself definitely included!!). I know it can be found in the city, but it's much harder, even sometimes in the church, unfortunately. End of the Steph sermon! :)

The next few days are crucial. A levee broke this morning a little further up the river. It will take some pressure of the levee my parents are worried about, but not much. The river crest predictions just keep on going up, especially with this new rain and the water coming from the Cedar Rapids area. It is still looking likely the levee will break, but we know that with God, all things are possible. If the levee does break, our house will not just get wet; it will be completely submerged. Dad does not believe he will ever go back to the farm. Heartbreaking. In a matter of days, my parents, sister and nephew could be homeless. Praise the Lord for the several people who have already offered my parents a place to stay until they find a new house, if that happens. I'm still hopeful and confident I'll be able to see my home again.

Keep praying, as I think it's pretty obvious what to pray for. I arrive back in Dallas Monday night and it's very possible I'll be repacking my suitcase and driving to Iowa Tuesday morning. If the levee breaks, I will most likely just stay in Iowa for the rest of the summer.

Thanks for praying! I'll keep you updated. In the meantime, here's a link to an article about the neighborhood my parents live in. Floyd Rowell, who is mentioned, married my grandmother a few years ago after their spouses died. He's just like a grandpa to me! Everyone else mentioned has known me since I was a baby. I hate that this is happening to all of them!

http://www.thehawkeye.com/Story/Huron-evacuation-061308

With faith,
Stephanie

Email from Thursday, June 12th

Things have turned pretty serious.

It's amazing how quickly things can change. Tuesday the crest (highest water level) at the Iowa River was supposed to reach 31.5 feet. Wednesday morning, they updated it to 32.5 feet. Another foot is significant. On top of that, there was quite a bit of rain Wednesday and severe storms are heading in overnight. The river isn't scheduled to crest until Monday evening and these additional rains will not help - at all. That's five days for the river to potentially to rise even more and too many days of that much pressure on the levees.

My parents and the entire area they live in are evacuating. My mom has taken the rest of the week off work to move out. My dad and brother spent Wednesday afternoon moving the tractors and other farm equipment to higher ground. Dad also sold all of the remaining grain in the bins to get it out in case something would happen. Knowing my dad, doing all of that tells me he's taking this extremely seriously. My parents rented a semi-trailer and it's coming Thursday morning so they can load it with everything in the house. My sister and Adrian will stay with my gramma. Mom and Dad will stay at the house as long as they can.

Dad doesn't know how the levee can hold. It's looking more likely that it could break. I was mistaken in my other email. Even if the river overflows the levee, my parents will be affected. The overflow will cause a washout, breaking the levee. In addition, my parents live in a corner where two levees come together. They are at the far end and all of the water will drain towards them. If the Iowa River levee does break, there is a possibility the Corps of Engineers will purposely break the Mississippi River levee near our farm. This will help drain the farmland and take pressure off additional levees. Of course, if this happens, our farm will be completely destroyed by the sheer force of water rushing in.

It's heartbreaking, on many levels. My grandparents bought this land nearly 70 years ago and built the house my parents now live in. Four generations of Stollers have lived in this house. That's a lot of us! :) Obviously, there's many memories there and it's still the family farm to my grandmother, uncles, and cousins. Fortunately, homes can be rebuilt. The other big scare is the crops. Dad only farms about 250 acres, which is not much, but it does provide quite a bit of income for them. Farming is already not good with all of the high prices and losing an entire crop would be nearly crippling. I can't imagine what my dad is feeling. His entire house, farm, and livelihood is at stake in the coming days.

Of course, there's plenty to pray for. We know God can do all kinds of things with water. He created it, flooded the earth with it, parted the Red Sea and calmed the water with Jesus. He absolutely has the ability to hold the levees and by faith, I'm hopeful He protects the land and people I love so much. Pray for my parents as they go through this huge undertaking. Pray for peace for me, too. I'm still in Alaska and am not returning to Dallas until Monday night. I desperately want to be there to help out and endure this with my family, and feel completely useless spending time in a coffeeshop reading. However, prayer is powerful, and that's all I can do!

Thanks again for praying!
Stephanie

Email Sent Tuesday, June 10th

Hey all-

If you keep up with the news, you probably have heard about all of the flooding going on in the midwest. Unfortunately, it's beginning to affect my family. My parents live on a farm that borders the Mississippi River. We're also a few miles from where the Iowa River flows into the Mississippi. We're protected by a levee, but the water is starting to get high, particularly along the Iowa River. In 1993, there was another big flood and we moved completely out of our house because we were worried about the levee breaking, flooding our house and farm. Fortunately, it didn't flood our house, but the newest river predictions show that the river levels could get two feet higher than what it was in 1993, causing a lot of concern.

Because of that, my parents made the decision tonight to start packing up the house and begin moving out, as many of their neighbors have. As you can imagine, this is an enormous undertaking. They are not going to pack everything, just the most important things. As of now, they don't necessarily think the farm will be flooded, but it's being given a 50/50 chance the levee will break or overflow. If it overflows, my parents will not be affected. If it's breaks, water will most likely reach the house. My parents are not in panic mode, just cautious and prepared.

If you think to pray for this situation - not only for my parents, but for all affected, that would be great! Flooding may not be as dramatic as a tornado, but it can be just as devastating. Pray, also, for my dad, Steve. He works for the levee and drainage district there along the Mississippi, and he's currently working a lot of extra hours running the drainage pumps, inspecting levees for weak spots, and just keeping people informed. Again, we're not panicking yet, but it is getting serious.

Thanks!
Stephanie