Flood: A Saga

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During the fifteen days between May 25^th, 2008 and June 9^th, 2008, our daughter, her husband and our two granddaughters survived more death and destruction than most people witness in a lifetime. On Sunday afternoon, May 25^th, shortly before suppertime, an F5 tornado slashed and smashed its way through the small town of Parkersburg, Iowa before continuing northeast narrowly missing the center of New Hartford, an even smaller town of less than 700 souls five miles to the east and ravaging a suburb just to the north.  Before it left the two Butler County communities, there were close to a dozen area residents dead and property damage in the tens of millions of dollars.

On Thursday, May 29^th, the usually shallow and torpid Beaver Creek on the north side of New Hartford breached a dirt levy and began spilling its contents into the town.  Rapid response by the citizens stemmed the tide before the water could do much damage. Still that was an unnerving experience to the shell-shocked residents still cleaning up after the tornado.

A heavy snowpack from the winter months had saturated the ground when it thawed, ground that could not absorb even a drop from the several days of heavy rain that preceded and followed the tornado. Just after dawn on Monday, June 9^th, the now raging Beaver blew out a section of the levy sending a crest four feet high into New Hartford. The picture on the cover of my book is of our children's house taken when the water had receded enough to allow them to survey the damage. The picture below was taken when the water was higher. Our children's house was just across their driveway from that old garage. 

During the months that followed, I thought a great deal about their trials and tried to imagine what it would be like to actually experience a flood of this or a greater magnitude. We heard from news reports and our children's firsthand accounts of what happened to the residents, their property and pets, but I also wondered how the area wildlife was affected. Flood: A Saga is the result of my mental images and is dedicated to the stalwart citizens of New Hartford who not only survived but also immediately began to rebuild their community.