A devastated Mid-America

[Uncle Al]

The following is an excerpt from a posting on the Theatre Organ List that I participate in........

<snip>
As many have seen on the national news, the Midwest is being beat to death by tornado's and flooding in Iowa, Wisconsin, and Indiana.

As of 8pm Central time in Cedar Rapids we are very much in anticipation of what is considered a "500 year" flood. Massive evacuations in river surrounding neighborhoods, bridges with water lapping their sides and we have not reached the peak flood stage. This is to occur sometime Thursday evening into Friday morning.
<snip>

I hope this doesn't happen and I do pray that no life is lost to any flooding!

Please, let's keep our Mid-America members and families in our thoughts
and prayers. For that matter, All residents in the area need our prayers.

I just wanted to bring everyone here an update on the storm damaged
Mid-America. Also, check out cnn.com and look at the tornado damage
that went through an occupied Boy Scout Camp. 93 people including 25 adult advisors
were at the camp when a tornado ripped it appart. The scouts ranged in
age from 13 years to 18 years old. There have been 4 confirmed deaths at the camp.
Names are being withheld pending notification of the families.

A Saddened Uncle Al
Duncanville, TX

[beloitpiper]

Lake Delton, just north of here, is gone. Totally drained. Plus, flooding ALL OVER southern Wisconsin. Power, roads, and sewage systems have all been destroyed. Millions in damage, with almost no insurance. That, plus the GM plant closing in Janesville has hit Wisconsin hard.

[Coemgen]

Good Lord! I hope no one is killed!

[Mipi]

Yes, I was watching news the other day. It seems to me, it's getting harder each year...
The Nature can be crude

[auld argonian]

This is happening again this year and it's really breaking my heart.

When I was a little boy I would drive out from Chicago to Iowa and Kansas with my grandfather (the one from the Scottish side) to visit the family. When I got older, we started driving out to look at architecturally significant sites in the Midwest and I have to say that I'm really in love with and deeply moved by the area. People who figure that a vacation is a trip to Hawaii make fun of me asking how can I get off on driving through miles of flatland and cornfields? But I love Wisconsin and Minnesota and Iowa and Kansas and Nebraska and Illinois and times have been tough enough without these natural disasters so this makes it all the more bitter.

I have no romantic delusion about people who live outside of large urban centers leading some kind of bucolic good-life but I have immense respect for them for sticking it out in what have become some really economically depressed areas.

Everybody in the USA should be required to work on a farm for at least one week and see just where their food comes from and the amount of work it takes to get it to them. If they did, they wouldn't take it for granted and why this flooding is so sad. And that sympathy should extend to the folks in the towns and small cities out there who are working to make ends meet and now have to deal with this.

I've gotten to the point where I get a couple of inches of water in the basement and I just shrug it off now because I've seen so many people have everything ruined and I realize how lucky I am.

I hope that things calm down and those folks can get things back to normal. This country has been very generous to other parts of the world but we should really take care of our own right now.

Best

AA

[macwilkin]

This is happening again this year and it's really breaking my heart.

When I was a little boy I would drive out from Chicago to Iowa and Kansas with my grandfather (the one from the Scottish side) to visit the family. When I got older, we started driving out to look at architecturally significant sites in the Midwest and I have to say that I'm really in love with and deeply moved by the area. People who figure that a vacation is a trip to Hawaii make fun of me asking how can I get off on driving through miles of flatland and cornfields? But I love Wisconsin and Minnesota and Iowa and Kansas and Nebraska and Illinois and times have been tough enough without these natural disasters so this makes it all the more bitter.

I have no romantic delusion about people who live outside of large urban centers leading some kind of bucolic good-life but I have immense respect for them for sticking it out in what have become some really economically depressed areas.

Everybody in the USA should be required to work on a farm for at least one week and see just where their food comes from and the amount of work it takes to get it to them. If they did, they wouldn't take it for granted and why this flooding is so sad. And that sympathy should extend to the folks in the towns and small cities out there who are working to make ends meet and now have to deal with this.

I've gotten to the point where I get a couple of inches of water in the basement and I just shrug it off now because I've seen so many people have everything ruined and I realize how lucky I am.

I hope that things calm down and those folks can get things back to normal. This country has been very generous to other parts of the world but we should really take care of our own right now.

Best

AA

Well said, AA.

I'll be calling this evening to check on my family in Cedar Falls/Waterloo. None of them live near the Cedar River, so here's hoping & touch wood they are all fine and weathering the storm as best they can.

And btw, I'm the same way about those Iowa cornfields.

T.

[Finn]

I grew up in Indiana. I know the weather patterns and topography. I love my home area. My family (mom & brother) and many friends are still there. I worry for them.
Members of my old reenacting group live in some of the affected areas.
It wrenches my heart to see the damage wrought. I was in Iowa City immediately after the '93 flood.
I tend to believe that the earth is trying to shake us off like a dog with fleas.

Hey! Manhattan, KS, has been hit by a tornado! Anybody heard from Rogerson785?

[Rogerson785]

A tornado touched down in Manhattan Kansas last night I don’t think there were any fatalities unlike those poor Boy Scouts.


The Riley County Emergency Manager reports significant damage to business and the KSU campus.

Manhattan, Kansas, June 12, 2008 - The Riley County Emergency Manager is reporting significant damage to businesses and the Kansas State University campus.

On campus, students report the roofs blown off at Weber and Fiedler Halls.
Ward Hall, home to a nuclear reactor, has also been damaged.
There are also reports of windows blown out.

A car dealership in Manhattan reports cars blown over.
There are also multiple reports of trees up-rooted and power lines down.

[ThreadBbdr]

Thank GOD, Chris. I was worried about you last night/today.

I haven't heard back from KT (the future daughter in law) yet. She's in Kansas City living with my sister while she does her summer internship, but she still has her apartment just off campus. Her brother was staying there last night.

CNN reports two killed in the Manhattan/KSU tornado and billions in damages to the campus.

It's always this bad in the spring around here, but when they touch down in town, it can be devestating.

Stay safe, everybody.

[beloitpiper]

Madison has a severe storm warning tonight with a possibility of more flooding and tornadoes. My family and I are leaving today to stay with some family in Beloit until the storm passes tomorrow. Hopefully this one won't be as bad as this last weekend, but we're not going to take any chances.