Date: Fri 13-Jun-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDREA

Quick Words:

flood-relief-farm-bureau

Full Text:

Fairfield County Farm Bureau Raises Funds For Flood Victims

(with photos, illustration)

BY ANDREA ZIMMERMANN

In March, Alyce Block saw a newspaper article recounting hardships that South

Dakota farmers had faced during "one of the worst winters in memory." A farmer

herself and chair of Connecticut Farm Bureau Women's Committee, Mrs Block was

the catalyst in establishing a fund for those hit hard by storms and floods.

At a conference in Washington, D.C., Mrs Block sought out Joyce Haak, chair of

South Dakota Women's Committee, to get a firsthand account of the devastation.

She was told one of the most severely devastated areas in that state was

Watertown, and she contacted a county representative there. A plan began to

unfold.

"My committee was very interested in finding ways to help," she said. "The

farmers had lost so much of their cattle already, and one to two thousand

people were displaced. The severe floods hadn't even hit yet. Other counties

have now picked up on this, but we were really in on the ground floor."

After quickly gathering information, Mrs Block approached Frank Hufner,

president of the Fairfield County Farm Bureau, and Linda Hufner, Women's

Committee member. He dispatched a letter to the 300 member families in the

county, which stated, in part: "Mrs Block suggested that perhaps our county

could send some financial aid to help the farmers in this area. Our board of

directors feels strongly that although we cannot do everything, we must do

something as quickly as possible ... There is no federal or state agency

involved. It is one county helping another county and the money will be

immediately available to those in need."

Mrs Block received a bundle of Watertown Public Opinion newspaper clippings,

which relate the increasing concerns and struggles of people in the town. The

following excerpts tell part of the compelling story.

January 31

Dr Sam Holland, state veterinarian...said, "I think we'll lose more cattle

this year than we have since the 1880s." [He added] that hundreds of thousands

of cattle died in South Dakota during blizzards in 1886 and 1888. Holland

said, "It's a once-in-a-100-year blizzard."

March 14

State Climatologist Al Bender [predicts] a "very critical" situation ... with

mud for spring crop and livestock conditions. ... Records at South Dakota

State University show that the six-month precipitation totals for South Dakota

average 10.85 inches, the highest in 49 years of record keeping ... The S.D.

Cattlemen's Association urged South Dakota cattle producers with animals on

low-lying areas to use the time before more thawing occurs to move their

livestock to higher ground.

April 2

Matthew and Joseph Aderhold watch Big Sioux River waters cover the family's

feed lot in Castlewood [yesterday]. With their flooded basement a major

concern, the kids' parents still have to milk 50 cows twice daily and may have

to move them to higher ground if waters continue to rise ... The rising

[river] jumped 10th Avenue NW about 1 am today, and by daylight flood waters

were still creeping up the dike ... The dike was constructed several years

ago, but was raised a few weeks ago in anticipation of spring flooding through

Watertown...

The long-anticipated high water finally started arriving in Watertown

[yesterday] but so far there has been little damage ... [Yesterday] Bramble

Park Zoo workers moved some Patagonian cavi from their exhibit to another

location on zoo property and sandbagged on the south and east side close to

the dike along the river...In South Watertown, the Big Sioux River adjacent to

Highway 212 is nearing the top of the berm and could start flowing over the

top to an adjacent field today...Lake Kampeska is taking on a lot of water and

there's still a lot of heavy, thick ice on it that we'll have to deal with.

The Corps of Engineers have told us that we might see four to five inches more

water in the Big Sioux System tonight.

April 4

City officials were making preparations late this morning for the possible

evacuation of residents in some areas around Lake Kampeska and in west

Watertown along the Big Sioux River ... Lake Kampeska was 31 inches over full

at 11:42 am ... The lake has risen at least 33 inches in two days ... S.D.

Department of Natural Resources said the lake was rising about an inch an

hour. The morning rain had a double impact as it brought more moisture but

also helped dissolve some of the ice ... [An emergency official said,] "We'll

go door to door along the Big Sioux River and the lake. We'll put a notice on

the door warning people that we believe they are in an area that faces

significant flooding, and they need to make arrangements to stay with family

or friends or at the Red Cross evacuation center."

...the city is facing a worst case scenario now that as much as two and

one-half inches of rain in a 17-hour period, and a forecast of blizzard

conditions late tonight, will be complicating already severe flooding

conditions here ... At 11:40 am [today] Lake Kampeska hit a new record flood

level, 49 inches. At 7:10 it was 46, and had risen 18 inches in 24

hours...Water was flowing past a gauging station...at 5,000 cubic feet per

second [yesterday]. A half-inch of rainfall could see that flow increase to

9,000. National Weather Service forecasters said an intense weather system is

expected to move over the Dakotas into Minnesota today and tonight, changing

rain to snow ... Forecasters are warning of possible blizzard conditions with

drifting snow and poor visibility ... Wind gusts could reach 50 to 60 miles

per hour [tomorrow.]... More than 100 people [in a mobile home court]

voluntarily left their homes about 10:45 pm [yesterday] after Big Sioux River

waters began weakening the base of an earthen dike separating the court from

the surging river ...The American Red Cross said an evacuation center that can

house 2,000 people was opened [last night].

April 7

President Clinton ... signed a federal disaster declaration covering flood and

blizzard damage in both South Dakota and Minnesota which occurred over the

last week... [Saturday night] only about 25 people had slept over at the Red

Cross evacuation center [in west Watertown] ... but they had served nearly 400

meals at the center to volunteer and state workers brought in to fight

Watertown's flood emergency ... Other evacuees, an estimated 2,000 people from

the southwest Watertown and Lake Kampeska areas were housed at the Watertown

High School second emergency evacuation center, at local motels, or with

relatives and friends. ...[In Sioux Falls] wind gusting to almost 70 mph

[yesterday] whipped new snow into whiteout conditions, making travel dangerous

and creating new problems for people worried about flooding in parts of

eastern South Dakota. ... Many roads in the lake area were waist deep ... even

a National Guard Humvee was stuck in the area. ... At the lake inlet ... the

new high was 74.5 inches above full ...

April 22

...nearly 1,100 homeowners or renters in Codington County have already applied

to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for disaster relief.

That same week, $2,000, contributed jointly by farmers in Fairfield County and

the county Farm Bureau, was deposited in a South Dakota bank in late April was

immediately disseminated by a local Farm Bureau to families in need (not just

farmers). So far, 12 families have received money from this fund. But it

wasn't easy to the people who were most in need and not receiving a lot of

support from other sources such as Red Cross and Salvation Army.

"We had to go out there on our feet and find them," said Jacquie Stoltenburg,

chair of the county's Farm Bureau Women's Committee. "We've actually gone

through the areas where we've seen the bad homes. Once you've seen the homes,

you have to find the families. We talked to the neighbors - some of the

families are in hotels, some are with family, others are trying to find mobile

homes."

In the lake area alone, 5,000 have been displaced; many of the homes were

destroyed, she said. "We saw a wrecker taking down a whole house - the people

had lived there on the lake for 45 years. Because the water table was so high,

even people in town had water come up through their basement floor and back-up

the sewers," said Mrs Stoltenburg. The money raised by the farm bureau gives

them a little boost so "they're not so discouraged and have a little faith,"

she said.

Funds continue to be collected by the Fairfield County Farm Bureau and

donations are welcome from anyone who wants to help out.

"They're still so needy out there," said Mrs Block, adding that promised

government relief has not come through. "Many of the homes have washed away.

And between the two states - North and South Dakota - they've lost over

200,000 cattle."

Potential for disease is now one of the biggest concerns, so Mrs Block hopes

the Farm Bureau fund will allow people to buy cleaning supplies, food, and

paper goods to eat off of.

"We really appreciate the fact that people are generous enough to help out and

we'd like, somehow, to show our gratitude," said Mrs Stoltenburg. "It's just

really great that they would even think about people in South Dakota when

we're so far away."

Contributions to help flood victims in Watertown, South Dakota, may be sent to

Fairfield County Farm Bureau, Secretary Linda Hooper, 61 East Village Road,

Shelton 06484.