Colfax Flood Situation, August 2010

COLFAX FLOOD SITUATION

On Wednesday, August 11, 2010, at 4:30 am, the residents of Colfax, Iowa received a telephone call to evacuate.  The voluntary evacuation was issued because the Skunk River was beginning to flood Colfax. 

“By about 6 o’clock,” the Rev. Cindy Finn, Pastor of the Colfax First United Methodist Church, recalls, “the water had come up Division Street and was coming into the west side of Colfax. People were leaving their homes as quickly as possible.  They didn’t have time to take belongings with them.  They didn’t have time to take things out of their homes.  They were only able to take themselves.”

“By Friday, August 13, the waters from Ames had come into Colfax and even more water came in over the levee.  People who not had water ever before in their houses had water on that day.” 

“On Division Street there are homes where folks are no longer living.  There are homes that may need to be demolished.”

“It’s a surreal experience for the folks in Colfax.  It’s hard to believe that homes, that belongings, that everything is gone!”

“This is a very close knit community.  People had family members they could go to, which was a great help. The Red Cross was here with places for people to stay at the high school.”

“Many people whose homes were not surrounded by water were fighting water in their basements – their sump pumps were working as quickly as possible to keep the water out.  While many were able to stay ahead of the game, many did lose furnaces, air conditioners, water heaters, all the belongings in their basements.”

“We need volunteers to help people clean things up. Many of the older people are not able to do that themselves, so help is needed with that.  Because sewer water came up through the runoff waters lots of disinfectant and lots of cleaning supplies are needed.