THE CLEAN UP IS UNDERWAY !!!

I drove over to the West side of town yesterday where the
flood did most of the damage. What I saw was so sad. I know
it's just stuff, but this flood hit the lowest income area of town
and these people will never get enough money to replace their
things. Hopefully they WILL receive enough to replace those
things that are necessary. I drove through so many
neighborhoods and the picture was the same house after
house. I have never seen so much trash in all of my life and
when I rolled my window down to take a picture, the smell
was so unbearable. The National Guard was there helping
people remove things from their homes. FEMA has officially
moved in and taken over the Reedsburg High School. They
are registering many families and one of the large gyms has
been set up as a food pantry with food that was sent from
Second Harvest in Madison.

I have the official information for those wanting to help out.
All donations can be sent to:

The Reedsburg Bank
201 Main St
Reedsburg, WI 53959
Attn: Reedsburg Flood Relief Account

Volunteers help with taking donations and giving out needed
supplies. Apparently they have an abundance of clothing and
food, but are in need of cleaning supplies as well as dehumidifiers
and fans. The semi truck you see below is full of clothing and
there is also 3 classrooms full of clothes as well.






The Red Cross is set up of the other side of the school where
some families are staying.


This is where a huge chunk of the sidewalk was
washed out during the rain. This is also the reason
the water was being pulled out of Pineview field
and into the street, which is also where we got our
car stuck:) By the way, the insurance is going to
replace the engine and cover all but our deductable.
AMEN!

FLOOD UPDATE!!!!

Well, the rain wasn't as bad as we had expected it to be
yesterday, so the water in the river has gone done a lot.
We drove downtown today, and all of the water that was
covering Webb Ave, the road where the movie theater and
the grocery store are, was completell dried up. I know, it
was just amazing and the store was open for business. The
movie theater had massive water damage and probably will
not re-open for quite some time.

The clean up is underway and residents are trying to figure
out just how much damage has been done. All of us at the
church have just been trying to help where we can. We spent
Wednesday night filling sandbags and some are helping at the
Red Cross station at Pineview School. They do not have many
people staying at the shelter there, because so many people
are staying with friends or family, but people are coming to
get supplies that they are giving out. Many of you have asked
how you can help, and here is what we know right now. The
Reedsburg Bank has set up a fund for assistance where anyone
in need can get help. They are allowing the Red Cross volunteers
to notify them when they need the money. A large amount of
food and clothing have already been donated and the Red Cross
is preparing 3 meals a day for anyone who needs to come and eat.
They have been giving out many bags with toiletries as well as
diapers and formula. They are telling us that right now, it is best
to donate to the fund at the bank because they are needing items
such as sump pumps, dehumidifiers, gloves, masks, rubber boots,
bleach and many others cleaning supplies that are hard to come by
right now because the people have depleted the shelves to begin their
clean up. There doesn't seem to be enough for everyone at the
moment. As soon as supplies are available, the money in the fund
will help to buy these items for those who need it. The hopsital
is also setting up a free tetnus shot clinic on Monday because
anyone involved in this clean up will need a new shot to protect
themselves.

The MAJOR problem at this very moment, is our septic system.
We knew over the last few days that they were having trouble
with the tanks and they were already pumping the sewage into trucks
and hauling it to other cities, but the levels were so high and the pressure
was to great and one of the tanks broke. Now they are really asking us to
conserve as much water as possible. They want us to not shower unless
necessary (we did military showers tonight. Sorry, I hate being dirty),
and they want us to only flush the toilet once or twice a day if possible.
I know, I know, it's really gross. I told my kids we were going to pretend
we were camping at our house as I was giving them their spongebath
from a pot of warm water. They didn't like it very much, but they
understood why we had to do it. Then I just threw the dirty water
out on the back lawn. See, just like camping! We also had a small
bonfire in the backyard tonight and I even threatened to put up a
tent just for the ambience:)

All kidding aside, we are very fortunate, but so many homes have been
ruined and these people are going to need help in cleaning up real soon.
FEMA was here the last couple of days assessing the damage, so we'll
see what kind of help they will get. I talked with one of the teachers I
work with today and she told me that South Elementary School, that I
posted a picture of, had 6 feet of raw sewage in their basement. This is
also where there cafeteria and kitchen are as well. Then she told me that
there was another level below the basement where the boiler tanks are,
and that it also had 6 - 7 feet of raw sewage in it. The boilers are ruined
and our principal told her that they would cost about $50,000 a piece
to replace. This is the oldest school building in Reedsburg so I don't know
if they will get to save it or not. There are still many people constantly
pumping their basements and just waiting for things to get completely
dried up.

Below are some arial photos that my mom sent me. Some of you may have
already seen them, but I posted them anyway. In the first picture, in the
upper right corner, you will see a really tall red church. We live 1 block
from that church. That is how close this was to our home, but thankfully
we had no damage to our house.

I will update again very soon. I apologize again for the lengthy post, but
there is a lot going on here right now.

Well I have a lot of pictures of the girls from the end of the school year but I will post those another time. Right now there are more devestating things happening in Reedsburg. If you have been watching the news at all, you already know about the major flooding in Wisconsin. Although many cities in different counties have been hit, we in Reedsburg are experiencing the devestation as well. Rivers and dams are overflowing from the almost 12 inches of rain we received in just 2 days. People are being evacuated from their home right here in Reedsburg. Homes are ruined, people are exhausted and this community has really pulled together to help each other out.

It all started this past Saturday. It was a nice day and Caitlyn went to the Dells with a friend to a waterpark. A couple of hours later, the tornado sirens went off and I heard the news report in my car. We all had to take shelter immediately. I have never been so scared as a parent in all my life, knowing that Caitlyn wasn't with us. Luckily she had her cell phone and we were able to stay in constant contact with her. Her friends family went to Knuckleheads (a bowling alley) and were able to get into the basement there. We went to my moms house where we found the whole teen discovery clan who had been having a car wash down the street when the sirens went off. It was a long few hours of waiting out the many tornados that were all around us. There was so much wind and rain and a lot of damage to homes. Once things were clear, we were able to get Caitlyn home. As we begin to finally relax, the sirens sounded again, so off we went to my moms again. (we don't stay in our basement because it is all dirt and very gross). This time there were so many incoming storms and warnings that we decided to spend the night there. I have never seen so much rain in all my life. Later that night when one rain storm quit for awhile, Sonny and I ventured back to our house to get some clean clothes to sleep in when we came across a flooded road in front of Pineview Elementary School. Our Durango got stuck and completely died and would not start. It was late at night and very dark. We didn't even see the water in the road. It was amazing though, not even one minute after getting stuck, 3 or 4 people came out of no where and began to help push us out of the water. The people in Reedsburg are so awesome. We had to have the car towed and later found out that we threw a rod and the engine is pretty much shot. My dad came and rescued us and we eventually made it back to their house for the night.

Sunday, a few people were able to get to church, others were flooded out and it was still raining. We almost lost power duing church a few times, but managed to make it through. By evening services though, we were hit again with another thunderstorm and no one was able to leave their homes.

Monday morning I woke up and went to work because the staff has to make up the three snow days from the winter. I couldn't believe what I saw as I was trying to get there. I had to take alternate roads because the usual ones were flooded out. There were so many road closures and the main bridge that you have to cross to get to that side of town was about ready to overflow from the river. All of the teachers were pretty frantic about having to stay, so our principal told us to go home. When I got home, I piled Sonny and the kids into the car and drove them around to show them all of the damage that had happened overnight that we knew nothing about. We were so sad and in such shock. Many of the areas that were hit the hardest are where many of my students and Caitlyn's friends live. We ended up spending most of our day trying to help where we could. We helped out downtown most of the morning stacking sandbags for businesses downtown that are right by the river. We were told that river would
probably rise another 4 feet, because of all the damage up in the Dells. Extra water would be coming down the Baraboo river. Then we went to Pineview School during the afternoon to volunteer where the Red Cross was set up for families being evacuated. We were pretty spent by the end of the night and then we found out that the sewage plant was now overflowing and they were warning people to plug up their drains so sewage doesn't get into your house. (I know disgusting). We also heard that this could possibly get into the drinking water, so we stocked up on bottled water just in case. It was a very late night, but today we are trying to get some rest. We just want to help our friends and not just sit around and do nothing. Below are some pictures of the west side of Reedsburg. All of this happened about three blocks from our home, so pray that we don't get anymore rain so it doesn't head toward us. Sorry this is so long, but this is a really sad thing for our community.

South Elementary School

South Park Street

Foremost Dairy