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