Serving O'Brien & Clay Counties
Serving O'Brien & Clay Counties
South part of Everly hit hard by June floods
A youngster watches a loader full of soiled furniture drive by during Everly's community flood cleanup on June 28.
Joe McIntire hurls the bottom half of a soiled recliner into a loader bucket last Friday in Everly.
A truck from the Everly Fire Department helps pump floodwaters from the former CC/E High School property following last month's storms.
Flood-damaged mattresses hit the road in Everly during a community-wide cleanup last Friday.
Volunteers in Everly banded together last Friday morning to clean up the flood-damaged community.
A convoy of semi trucks was enlisted to help haul flood-damaged items away from Everly residences on Friday, June 28.
An army of volunteers made light work of more than 34 tons of flood-damaged items in Everly on Friday.
"It was amazing," said Mayor Ron Thompson. "Everyone worked their tails off."
Working as a team, the group made its way around town removing furniture and other household items from curbs. The damage was done during a flood late last month which filled basements on the south side of town and elsewhere.
Everly Fire Chief Brian Kahl, who also serves as the city's street superintendent, helped organize the cleanup.
"I was driving around seeing all the damage, and I thought, 'This isn't Everly,' " he said. "Once it was all gone I think peoples' moods changed and they started feeling a little better."
At least one basement collapsed during the flood, which began in the late evening of June 21 and ran into June 22. According to discussion during a special council meeting Monday, a large amount of water rushed into town when a part of the railroad over the Ocheyedan River broke west of town.
"Some folks on the south end of town, it was coming through their basement windows," Thompson said.
With a majority of local emergency resources dedicated to assisting Spencer's flood efforts, Everly was left to fend for itself during the flood.
"We were on our own," said Kahl. "If anyone knows anything about this community, we take care of ourselves."
With the help of fire trucks and other pumps, the city started pumping water from the south side of town to alleviate some of the infiltration into homes. Though it was considered, no evacuations were ordered during the flood's peak.
"I think a lot of people were focused on staying with their pumps and focused on getting more pumps," said Kahl.
Clay County was declared a FEMA disaster area following the June floods. The council and Kahl reviewed the situation and mulled options to prevent a similar disaster in the future.
"I just don't want to move on and forget it," Kahl said.
Ideas proposed during the brainstorming session included keeping a large pile of sand in town to fill bags and building a berm to redirect flow of floodwaters away from town.
"I think it's something we should really look at," Kahl said regarding the berm. "It happened so quick there was no way for us to get it with sandbags."
"These are all things I think we've got to look into and consider," Thompson said. "Hopefully this doesn't happen again."
City Clerk Kristi Fliss said she had helped approximately five people fill out FEMA assistance information as of Monday. Council Member Tara Patrick encouraged people to report damages and seek help if they need it.
Patrick was proud of the city's response and cleanup efforts following the deluge.
"I knew when Brian put out the call for help, Everly would come through," she said.
