Sounds of the season soared through the sanctuary of Faith Reformed Church in Rock Valley.
“Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas / From now on, our troubles will be out of sight.”
About 50 high schoolers stood in rows under a softly illuminated cross. They performed for a community facing the first winter after the flood.
The annual event usually fills the school auditorium, but in June, the Rock River surged to levels never seen before. The water forced classes and activities out of the school and into temporary spaces.
Many students and their families are still displaced from their own homes.
Family still strives for permanent home
The church brings back memories for high school senior Ava Blankespoor. When high water forced her family to flee the only home she had known, they spent the night sheltering here.
“They were so gracious to take us all, it was exhausting and hard,” Ava Blankespoor said. “It was very difficult for me to deal with, especially the first couple of weeks after not knowing what was going on. What happened, and what are we going to do?”
The family returned the day after to find a caved-in foundation.
They are not alone. The flood damaged more than 500 homes — 40% of properties in Rock Valley. Like others soaked out of their lives, they took off and stayed with family — a camper — a house. Ava’s mom, Jillian, said they moved into another just a few days ago, about 20 miles away.
“It’s been a wild six months,” Jillian Blankespoor said. “It was an adjustment, but we made it work, just a stepping stone till the next step. And each step will take us closer and closer to the end and we’ll see where it brings us. God has a plan for our family.”
Even though they don’t know what the future holds, Jillian wanted to remain in Rock Valley.
Fighting to keep residents in Rock Valley
City Administrator Tom Van Maanen and other local leaders have a mission to try and keep people from permanently leaving and to repair the scars left behind.
“At the end of the day, you do the best you can, you hold your head as high as you can,” Van Maanen said.
Van Maanen said the flood destroyed at least 140 homes, but finding housing in an already tight market is a challenge.
Federal help
“Now we’re coming up on FEMA’s trailer court," he said. "This was the site of a lot of devastation.”
Van Maanen drove past two spaces on the east and west sides of town where the Federal Emergency Management Agency installed 95 one to three-bedroom manufactured homes. There’s room for even more. Similar units have gone up in other flooded communities, including Rock Rapids, Spencer and Hawarden.
“In some ways, the six months has been forever. It literally can feel like five years have gone by since then. You can see there’s so much work left to be done with the home buyouts and other teardowns," Van Maanen said. “The financial impact to some of these property owners that do not get a buyout is going to be devastating to them. At that point, there's really not any more programs that the city can utilize to assist them, so we will try and apply for other grants to try and help."
The buyout program could cost the city between $4.5 and $6 million, and FEMA homes are only meant to provide temporary housing as Rock Valley breaks ground on more permanent projects.
Van Maanen admitted that fighting for his community comes with frustration, like when construction on the FEMA trailer park was delayed six weeks during the fall for historical and environmental reviews.
“The things we control moved quickly. We’re really happy with where we’re at," he said. "The things we’ve had to wait on, are finally here, and so progress really continues. You know there’s no well-defined finish line.”
Building a future
Throughout town, the sound of construction equipment filled the air — a breath of recovery as crews chug along during an unseasonably warm day in the middle of December. Two developments include 45 new homes and two apartment buildings.
“You know, it’s our home. It’s what we love, it’s what we know and it’s a battle that won’t be won in the first six months, it’ll be a battle that we wage for three, five years and probably beyond that,” Van Maanen added.
A Rock Valley couple repairs their life
For Steve and Cherie Gacke, home is currently their garage after dirty river water rushed through their basement walls and the main level of their house.
“Within 10 minutes, there was water blowing through the doors and windows,” Steve Gacke said. “By the time we walked away, it was already above our knees.”
The couple, married for almost 50 years, originally planned to leave Rock Valley after enduring their second major flood in a decade.
“We were staying with our daughter in Oklahoma,” Cheri Gacke said. “But it wasn’t home, we just wanted to come home.”
Rock Valley is going to look different forever.Steve Gacke, longtime Rock Valley resident
Through the past six months, they've experienced pain and progress.
After living in a suitcase for six weeks with relatives and friends, they settled into a state-issued camper in their backyard in August. Steve took early retirement to remodel his damaged place with money from FEMA, the state and donations.
But their neighborhood won’t be the same, as Steve looks out a window with tears streaming down his face.
“I don’t know if the city’s going to have a lot of money to buy all these houses out,” he said. “Rock Valley is going to look different forever.”
Christmas will also look different this year. There is no tree, only a small wreath hung in their simple makeshift room and a wish to return to their renovated home early in the new year.
“We’re starting over, but we’re getting close now, real close,” Steve Gacke said.
