This past summer the senior high youth group KTL traveled to Iowa City, IA, for a 5-day mission trip to the American Heartland. A year ago, in early June 2008 the Iowa and Cedar rivers flooded to a greater extent than any previous hydrological event in recorded history. The Cedar River crested at 31 feet, nearly 5 feet higher than the highest levee in downtown Cedar Rapids. The total damage due to flooding in the state of Iowa was estimated at $7 billion, yet this event was greatly unreported by the national media and has received minimal attention from charitable agencies. Due to remarkable emergency management the people of Iowa only suffered a single fatality as a result of the flooding, and the waters receded within six weeks, but there continues to be significant damage especially in low-income housing areas. Our team partnered with Presbyterian Disaster Assistance and United Way of Johnson County to do yard work, landscaping, sheetrock, painting, rebuilding fences, and even repairing a roof or two (yes, that’s how high the water went). In addition to homes there was work to be done on small businesses that were struggling to come back from the floods. We also got a chance to tour mid-America and were featured in a Fourth of July parade float celebrating the work of volunteers who came from all over the country to aid with this ongoing effort.
