I am finally getting on board – or blog, that is – and posting my announcements on the family site. Thanks to those who set this up!
For those who did not see my recent email, here is my Iowa City flood update:
Good Morning all,
Well, I tried to run by Staples this morning to get more mailing labels and I wasn’t able to get reach it. It’s very bizarre to drive the same way I have driven hundreds of times, only to be stopped because the river is flowing over the highway. Apparently 3 out of 4 Iowa City bridges over the river are now flooded. (Once I saw the traffic, I decided not to bother trying the 4th bridge.)
North of us things are considerably worse – evacuated towns (including hospitals) have thrown the whole state into crisis mode. Everyone within the “500 year flood plain” is sandbagging and leaving town. Nate’s Mom is trying to talk us into staying with them for a while, but Nate and I have agreed to continue work as usual until we lose power or water.
Supposedly the flooding will peak in our area around Tuesday, and the water level will be at least 5 feet over what the flood of ‘93 reached. It’s probably going to take months for the area to fully recover, and I hate to think what this will do to businesses and the people who will be unable to work.
I bet Panera (where Nate works) will be swamped today. During the winter power outages it became a place for people to converge, get a meal, stay warm and wait for updates. I am trying to get everything in order at the Englert because our theatre is one of the only in the area safe from flooding, and I anticipate many cultural and community events will be moved here once the excitement dies down and clean up begins.
I have never experienced such a slow, quiet crisis. During the tornadoes, there are always sirens going off and wild weather and people rushing to shelter. During the blizzards everyone gathers where there is heat and food. But during a flood, I guess everyone shores up and gets out.
Except me, who is alone in my office trying to fix our donor database and get it backed up. Sigh.
Take care,
Nancy
