Flood of 2008

I just reread the last blog from the beginning of May. There's been a lot more water since then and, ironically, I've had no desire to get out the kayak.

Like many other folks, I spent most of the last four weeks struggling with the ravaging effects of rising waters. First with sandbagging efforts, then with emergency response and now the slow road to recovery. I'm one of the lucky ones - with a home that's high and dry. Hundreds of others in this part of the world have not been so lucky.

The destruction done by the flood waters here in Louisa County is almost incomprehensible. A whole town inundated, hundreds of buildings destroyed, people who lost both their homes and their livelihood. Some homes still have standing water - after close to a month.

We'll recover and things will eventually return to normal, even for those hit hardest. Helping with that effort are hundreds of volunteers from all across the country who have come to this place I'm sure they'd never heard of before. These people heard we needed help, dropped what they were doing and drove to Iowa to haul muddy carpet, cut moldy drywall and pull debris out of yards. It's humbling to see.

If you want to help, donations can be sent to Community Foundation of Louisa County, PO Box 171, Wapello, Iowa 52653. Volunteers should call in advance of arrival to get information: 319-457-0575.

Water, Water Everywhere

What a rotten time to be out of commission for paddling!

There are endless places to drop a kayak in the water and take off for as long as you want to paddle. Paddling on the rivers wouldn't be a smart thing to do - way too much debris. But, with all the water in the floodplains right now, who needs rivers?

If I could paddle, I'd probably put in at Millrace Flats Wildlife Management Area, just north of Wapello. You can see all the water as you drive between the Iowa River bridge on highway 61 and Wapello. The picture here is of an area that is normally a field. While there is always some water along that stretch, right now there is almost no dry ground. Right now it's a great place to watch wildlife - maybe a bit too good as it's hard to keep my eyes on the road.

It's been tough though to watch the wood ducks go from guarding nests to swimming around the submerged boxes. If you look closely at this photo, you'll see just the top of a box in the background; several others are completely submerged.

After I finished paddling the 700 acres at Millrace - which would probably take just a little while - I'd move on to the 2000+ acres at Horseshoe Bend division of Port Louisa National Wildlife Refuge. It's another former floodplain of the Iowa River that's currently holding excess water from the river. I'm sure I'd see lots of ducks, geese, herons and maybe a few critters that are flooded out of their homes like beavers and muskrats.

Then I'd head to the Odess Water Trail, even though the signs are all under water. It'd be fun because you can go anywhere right now. After that ....

No, I won't whine anymore because it probably won't be as long as we'd like before we'll see these water levels again (last time was in 2001). Hopefully we'll be back to normal levels before I'm back on the water.

Water going over the lower spillway at Odessa Wildlife Management Area

Earth Day Paddle

It's been a long time since I was out on the water but my first paddle was a good one. Along with a couple of dozen other paddlers, I joined Elizabeth (blue kayak) from the Louisa County Conservation Board for the "Earth Day Paddle" at Indian Slough Wildlife Area.

It seemed at first that the evening was not going to go well. Up until noon, it looked like we might have thunderstorms. The first person to arrive got their car stuck in the mud. Parking and turning around were challenging because of high water. A brand new kayak arrived with a giant hole (tip: don't let your kayak rub against the tire of your trailer!).

But, the weather was perfect. The last person to arrive had a tow strap to pull the car out. Everyone was friendly and helpful. And, while the kayak still has a hole, we had enough boats for everyone to go out (hey, you've gotta look on the bright side, right?).

With the water so high on the Iowa River (even higher than my trip last summer), we were able to go anywhere we wanted. In fact, we ended up paddling down a road for awhile. It also allowed us to get right next to the eagle's nest. Unfortunately, it looks like the eagles have moved elsewhere this year.

Since I was way, way at the back of the pack, I didn't see much wildlife but I heard others say they saw: swallows, geese, great blue herons, a beaver, and lots of carp. The frogs were singing and the trees had that first flush of green.

My favorite part of this trip wasn't the wildlife anyway - it was the people. There were folks I knew but had never paddled with, as well as seasoned paddlers whom I'd never met. We had a family who lives near Indian Slough and a young lady from Poland (no, she didn't travel here JUST for the paddle). The age span covered 8 years old to well over 60.

Best of all, my husband and daughter were along. Really, I should say I was along since I can't actually paddle these days and the daughter offered to take me out in a tandem kayak. About 2 minutes into the trip, she regretted the offer but I think she had fun anyway.

Maybe not enough fun that she'll take me out on the Mother's Day paddle. But she should, right? After all, giving birth to her was a LOT harder than paddling me around for a couple of hours.

Emily got the Red Kayak out on the water