My shuffle team was Earth 2 - even though this project ended a few weeks ago, I wanted to share a little about my experiences. During my shuffle round I was sent on disaster to the town of Oakville, Iowa. Oakville is a little town that is known to make some of the best hog feed in the country. It was built on a flood plain right off of the Iowa River. The levee broke due to the increase of water in early July, causing the whole entire town to be flooded with at least four feet of water. The town literally had a channel of water flowing through it. When you first drive to the town you can see how the river broke through the town because of the displaced homes and the houses split in two. The community of Oakville is very small and is made up of families that have lived there for generations. Because Oakville is on a flood plain no one had insurance for the disaster. Volunteers from all over came and helped get the town ready to rebuild. Our team arrived in late July and we stayed until the middle of August. The mission was to muck and gut as many houses as possible so the town could start getting ready to rebuild the following spring.
The disaster was really tough. When they ask you in the NCCC interview if you can be flexible and work in strenuous conditions, they are talking about disasters like this. The one I experienced was very intense work. We took apart houses. To take apart a house it takes a lot of work and problem solving skills. To gut a house is not as easy as you think. We had to pick up things that were destroyed by the flood. Sometimes we had no idea what we were picking up because they were so unrecognizable. Rule number one in gutting a house is never open the refrigerator. If you do, expect to smell the worst thing ever. One of my teammates was curious and did not heed this advice so he opened two of them and each time resulted in a very very very bad smell. One time we called in some help to lift them out of a basement and some Amish men came and helped us. They worked so hard it made us look bad. They did everything bare handed without masks and boots. They tore off the door, took all the spoiled food out, and then tossed the freezer on the pile in a matter of minutes. After that we all felt a little flustered but we were so grateful that they were there. The most disgusting aspect of the disaster was the basement. The basement was filled with frogs, crawfish, water bugs and the biggest salamanders you have ever seen. On top of deconstruction we also saved tons of wildlife in the basement in between shoveling all the slop. The basements smelled bad; it was the hardest work and it kept on filling with water. But it was by far some of the most important work we did. When we were cleaning out basements we had to wear the TYVEK suit with booties and a hood.
The hours were long, the work sometimes was impossible, but it is some of the most rewarding work you can do. The people in the town were so nice to us and touched all our hearts. One such family was Lyn and Teresa, a nice couple who had their house destroyed. They were so nice and kept on finding us in the town to make sure we were all right. My teammate Noel and I took apart their bathroom and they asked us to keep a huge mirror, the toilet, sink, and the tub. It was a lot of extra work to keep these pieces intact but worth the price because it made them so happy that something could be salvaged. It is really hard to explain the atmosphere of a disaster because it's such a physical and emotional experience, but all you can do is give your all. The two teams that were on disaster did an amazing job. We worked really hard, had a great attitude, and all were always willing to help each other get things done. We left everything on the table and let the community touch our lives.
~Kate
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