Feeding a Crowd

Back in 2008 the city of Cedar Rapids was flooded by the Cedar River. It is called a 500 year flood. Businesses, houses, cars and other items were downright destroyed. Luckily only one life was lost and that was due to a heart attack. It was horrible to live through, horrible to think about and horrible to imagine it ever happening again.

Today I have been cleaning out some file boxes and ran across a news paper with a story about The Salvation Army. It told how they were helping by fixing meals and setting up mobile canteens. Local businesses volunteered their space and local chefs volunteered their services for fixing these 2700 plus meals a day. These meals fed those effected and working in the flood ravaged areas.

This article also included the recipe to for BBQ Pork Sandwiches and Green Beans. I thought I would share in case any of you have a pot luck you need to provide some vittles for.

BBQ Pork Sandwiches with Green Beans on the Side for 2000 People

630 pounds of pork
21 gallons of BBQ sauce
1 gallon basil
1 gallon salt
1 gallon pepper
1 gallon thyme
175 dozen buns
ten 40 pound cases green beans
two 30 pound cases butter

Rub the pork with the basil, salt, pepper and thyme. Roast for 6 hours and then slice and cover with BBQ sauce. Melt the butter and pour over the beans. Pack. Repeat.

Sokol 4 Weeks Later

I mentioned a while back Sokol, the gym where our kids take gymnastics, was flooded out. After doing some initial cleanup, the project was hired out to professionals. They removed the objects we didn't, removed the mold, drywall, and wood that was touched. They also sprayed Serum1000 to remove the harmful bacterias that collected on the structure still left.

Yesterday we visited to see the progress. It is just a shell of a building.

Our gym.

Our clubroom.

One of our hired hand. Notice the full hazmat.

What happens next is anyones guess. Summer gymnastics have been cancelled. Fall gymnastics are looking bleak.

copyright 2008 The Homefront Lines

Meeting the Consul General of the Czech Republic

Marek Skolil, the Consul General of the Czech Republic, visited Cedar Rapids to tour the damage done to Czech Village, the National Czech and Slovak Museum and Sokol Cedar Rapids during the 2008 flooding. Believing this was a great learning opportunity for the kidlets, I took them to Sokol to meet him.

What a great gentleman. He went to the kids immediately and introduced himself. The kids, who can speak some Czech and practiced all morning, introduced themselves in English. Seems their Czech speaking skills were lost somewhere between the car and the 5 steps they took to shake his hand.

They also had their picture taken by Jaroslav Richter, a New York-based reporter with the Czech News Agency, in front of Sokol. I wonder if they will end up in a Czech newspaper?

Copyright 2008 The Homefront Lines

Our First House....

...has been condemned!

In the 500 year flood plain, the first house that DH and I owned together has been condemned. With water up to the ceiling and the foundation that crumbled in, our first house is cordoned off and will be torn down in due time.

copyright 2008 The Homefront Lines

Sokol Clean Up

The kids take gymnastics at Sokol. It flooded during the floods 2 weeks ago. It breaks our hearts to see this place that has embraced our family with open arms in such ruins. DH and I have spent most of the last week helping in the clean up. The pictures don't even begin to show the damage but definately smell better than the real life scenes.

The water was in the gym 4 feet. All the equipment and mats were moved around. The floor warped.

The mats soaked up all the icky, nasty, smelly water and weighed at least a ton each. Man they were heavy!

After cleaning the equpiment out the gym and disposing of it, the floor was ripped up.

The sidewalk had to be caution taped off to hold the floor peices. The dumpster we filled two days prior still hadn't been dumped. There was a 2-3 hour weight for dumpster dumps at the landfills.

The lockerooms in the basement were completely underwater. The water moved the items around as you can see from the bench and wastepaper basket.

Also in the basement is the club room. Meetings, potlucks and baking events were held in this area.

Wouldn't want to use those papertowels!

Also housed in the clubhouse was the newly fixed piano. With a flood coming the piano was moved up to the first floor. Unfortunately, it didn't help. $3500 down the river so to say.

DH standing in the foyer next to the water line. From the street the water was 6 feet up.

A sign written and hung in the front of our building.

copyright 2008 The Homefront Lines

Presidential Visit

Last Thursday President Bush visited the CR and IC area to view the flood damage. I am not sure how much he actually saw since he only did one sweep around town and by the time he got here there was no water but the kids got a kick out of seeing his choppers flying through the area.

Downtown Flood

A bit of Iowa history in the making.



**not my video**

A Day of Nature---June 13, 2008

My day started like this...


During the afternoon we had this...


And at 8:30pm this was what I saw and heard...it was amazing...


© 2008 The Homefront Lines

2008 Flood

As you many of you know, we live in Iowa. In 1993 we flooded. The Cedar River, in the town which we are from, flooded. The sewers backed up, businesses flooded, homes flooded, it was a huge mess. We learned many important things from that flood and have talked about the "hundred year flood" every spring since. We will never forget it.

This year has been a bumpy weather year with much snow and ice during the winter. We weathered through that into spring. Spring has been bumpy as there has been below normal temperatures and much rain, not to mention above average tornadic action.

It has been said, with the rain comes the flood. Well, whoever said knew what he was talking about because it hasn't just flooded, IT HAS FLOODED! I cannot believe my hometown. Downtown is underwater and that is not an exageration. Bridges are underwater, the courthouse (which was built on an island to resemble a battleship floating in the Cedar) actually looks like a battleship floating in the Cedar, the Czech Museum (a nationally know museum) is underwater, the Science Station is underwater, the library; underwater, parking meters, street signs, parking ramps; all underwater. One of our hospitals is evacuating due to river water seeping in. We just keep watching the news saying, "Oh my God!" Unbelievable is just not strong enough. Our feelings we cannot express because it makes us want to cry.

In the middle of all this madness the kids and went out to see how our little piece of Heaven was doing amongst the latest 4 inches of rain. We knew, by looking around our little homestead, that we are very lucky. We might have some water standing in the yard, the gardens may be underwater and water might be seeping in the basement but it is nothing compared to the people, our friends and family, who have lost their homes, businesses and all their material possessions to a river that soared over it's banks, surprising us all at its rage, fury and greatness.

This is what most of the day looked like. Wet and soggy.

My poor, poor gardens.

We decided to see how deep the sidewalk was. Here are feet belonging to V, C, me and Millie the Wonder Dog.

While it wasn't raining, C took some time to dangle her feet in the rain water.

We are all ok and luckily (thank all that is good) there have been no deaths or serious injuries as a result of the flood of '08. We are very happy and downright lucky to live in this wonderful state. It is hard to see our town, the place we truly call home in such devistation, but, we also know when push comes to shove we will unite as one and overcome anything that comes flooding at us.

© 2008 The Homefront Lines