In June of 2008, a small group of students was registered for the general elective course American Literature 1865 to the Present at Mount Mercy College in Cedar Rapids, IA. As the instructor, I decided to subtitle the course "Defining American Character," and one of my goals was to have the students think about the way literature has been used throughout our nation's history to chronicle and reflect upon cultural movements and historical events. Little did I know that mid-way through this course our community would be placed into one of the most challenging chapters of its own history - the catastrophic flooding of the Cedar, Iowa, and Mississippi Rivers. During the week of June 16-21, Mount Mercy cancelled classes and opened the campus to military and law enforcement personnel. With one week taken away from this five week course, I struggled as I tried to re-imagine the syllabus. Not only had we lost time, but I knew that these students, like everyone in the affected Eastern Iowan communities, would be facing loss, grief, and seemingly insurmountable task of clean-up and rebuilding. Indeed, this small group of people included those who volunteered in sandbagging and clean-up efforts, those who found ways to help family members and friends who lost everything in the floods, EMS responders & hospital workers, and those who work long shifts at the college switchboard to help facilitate the housing of emergency responders. With this knowledge, I chose to scrap most of the original syllabus. I decided to, as the proverb says, "put my money where my mouth is" and encourage these students to use literature and the arts as a way of reflecting upon these devastating floods.
We read a selection of poems about flooding, natural catastrophe, and grief as a way of examining the various emotional responses to loss and the impetus for storytelling that such disasters create. We also read an article Jerry W. Ward, Jr. published in the African American Review titled "Katrina: A Matrix of Stories." Ward, a scholar displaced by Katrina, argues that the stories that emerged out of New Orleans in the days surrounding August 29, 2005 were the stories of "bodies and psyches in pain" and that, in time, these stories would become more polished and also more suspect. Ward encourages his audience to hold onto the raw narratives. He says, "These ur-stories, I admit, may not be breathtakingly 'literary.' They are merely real. They evidence how human beings always use languages to depict stiuatedness and resilience. From sympathetic treatment of such materials we should forge our literary and cultural histories." Inspired by Ward, I altered the course's final assignment, originally a presentation on a quintessential, fictional American character, to a presentation on the American character or characters the students saw emerging around them.
Students were asked to create a response to the Eastern Iowa floods. The nature of their response was left open to their creativity and did not need to be strictly "literary." Many of these students chose to incorporate or work strictly with images (their own and those available through media sources) and audio. Many created PowerPoint presentations, which I have converted to JPEG files and posted for you. If you want to magnify any of these images (Chelsea Toll's newspaper in particular), all you need to do is click on them to receive a larger image. In addition to their responses, students were to write 1-2 page essays about the process of creating these responses - what inspired them, why they made choices they did, what they found difficult or useful in creating the response. I have included excerpts from these essays in the students' blog entries to give you a sense of their creative processes.
Our hope is that with this blog we have created an archive of raw narratives about the floods of '08. For those of you who only heard about these events through national media outlets, we hope that these narratives will provide you with a window into the chaos, devastation, community, and hope that we have experienced in the past three weeks. For those of you who have, like us, witnessed these things first hand, we hope that these entries will provide a way for us to reflect upon our common experiences and emotions.
Finally, one of the ideas we discussed in class was cathartic experience of story sharing - how, inevitably, one story will trigger another one as we come together to alleviate our pain and look for hope in these difficult times. If our responses trigger such stories in you, please feel free to share them with us so that we might add them to our archive. You can contact me at a_pleiss.whenfloodinghappens@blogger.com.
Ann Pleiss Morris
Adjunct Instructor, Mount Mercy College
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Monday, June 30, 2008
Jacob Fishell
During the Flood of 2008, Mount Mercy College closed the campus down from Thursday June 12th to Saturday June 21st. I normally work the switchboard for the college during the regular work day, eight to five. During this time the college closed the switchboard and ran twenty-four/seven to help out with the volunteers, workers, and soldiers, who were using the campus as a base.
Because of the great need of help and protection the city of Cedar Rapids needed at this time, the Nation Guard, Air Force, and Army had soldiers stationed here on campus who went out to work twelve hour shifts; they, too, were also working throughout the city twenty-four/seven.
The soldiers were very courteous and grateful of the accommodations we were able to provide. The college and the city were grateful for their services and help they provided; they did it with no complaints and without hesitation. It was because of this friendship the college and soldiers had built on mutual respect and gratification that I was able to take pictures in restricted areas in downtown Cedar Rapids, the Czech village, and other areas. The soldiers were more than happy to escort me through the areas and pointed out some sights they had come across to be worthy of shooting and capturing the scene.
Because of the great need of help and protection the city of Cedar Rapids needed at this time, the Nation Guard, Air Force, and Army had soldiers stationed here on campus who went out to work twelve hour shifts; they, too, were also working throughout the city twenty-four/seven.
The soldiers were very courteous and grateful of the accommodations we were able to provide. The college and the city were grateful for their services and help they provided; they did it with no complaints and without hesitation. It was because of this friendship the college and soldiers had built on mutual respect and gratification that I was able to take pictures in restricted areas in downtown Cedar Rapids, the Czech village, and other areas. The soldiers were more than happy to escort me through the areas and pointed out some sights they had come across to be worthy of shooting and capturing the scene.
Thank you to all the men, women, and soldiers who helped out!!!
Katrina Fitzgerald
I chose to make a slide show of photos that I took and photos that I found on the internet. The point of the images I chose was to show outsiders how horrific the flood was to the residents of Cedar Rapids and how much it affected our daily lives.
When I was collecting photos, I looked for ones that contained people most affected by the flood. The people who lost everything to an act of God, the people who are now unemployed and don't know how they will ever afford to live the way they once did. The people who didn't lose anything, that stopped their lives to help with sandbagging efforts through all hours of the night.
[ . . . ]. The background muic, Lean on Me, is to represent how everyone comes together for those in need.
A Recording of "Lean on Me" can be accessed here:
When I was collecting photos, I looked for ones that contained people most affected by the flood. The people who lost everything to an act of God, the people who are now unemployed and don't know how they will ever afford to live the way they once did. The people who didn't lose anything, that stopped their lives to help with sandbagging efforts through all hours of the night.
[ . . . ]. The background muic, Lean on Me, is to represent how everyone comes together for those in need.
A Recording of "Lean on Me" can be accessed here:
Photos taken by CBSNews.com, KCRG:Flood Watch (some by Brian Ray), Mount Mercy College (Jacob Fishell), Diane Fitzgerald, & Katrina Fitzgerald
Ryan Luensman
“The most authentic thing about us is our capacity to create, to overcome, to endure, to transform, to love and to be greater than our suffering.”
Ben Okri (Thinkexist)
Many times in our history we have been faced with hardships and adversity. In 1993 and 2005 Monticello was struck by floods that devastated parts of the town. In 2008, Iowa has been hit by tornadoes, a bad winter, and now the worst flood I may ever see. This was the first time that I can remember that we had so much rain and Monticello didn’t get truly affected. Our water started to rise, panic began, and then it broke and receded. The campgrounds, golf course, and a couple small businesses were hit but nothing like before. I stood in relief after sand bagging for much of the day. Our community is very good about sticking together and helping take care of each other. We have learned from our earlier mistakes of not taking Mother Nature seriously.
As the next couple days went on, the rain continued around the area. Many other rivers began to rise, but the Maquoketa stayed firm. I was naive to think that since our river wasn’t rising, no one else’s would be either. As I stood and watched the news, I was shocked to see the surrounding areas begin to flood. Slowly I began to see the horrible outcomes that could be created. Flood levels were reached in many surrounding communities. But they didn’t stop there; everyday, new records were beginning to creep closer. Very quickly the panic began in places that never thought they would be affected. Monticello seemed to be affected more by sere horror and fear than by water. Everyone was on edge and didn’t really know whether to stay home and prepare or go to Cedar Rapids and help. Finally, the 500 year flood mark was breeched and the city of Cedar Rapids had the worst flooding that I may ever see. Places I ate at, went to church, and signed papers were all under water up to their doorways. I have never felt such devastation so close to home. Family members and friends lost their homes. A place that I drive to three to four times a week was in utter shambles. School was canceled because of the courageous efforts of Mount Mercy - housing the National Guard and helping in any way possible. I was very proud to tell my community members about all the progress and help Mount Mercy was providing. I truly believe that even if you didn’t live in Cedar Rapids, you will be affected in one way or another. My family owns a grain business and because the factories were flooded, their business was affected. My sister-in-law works at Mercy hospital and had to evacuate patients to other hospitals. I never thought that a flood could have such a catastrophic impact. Was I blind to think we could control Mother Nature? Dodge her bullet?
Finally, after the water began to recede, I drove down to the Cedar Rapids area. I don’t think I have ever felt so humble in my life - family’s lives thrown out to the curb, houses marked to be destroyed. I know that this is a huge obstacle for our area. But I could only tell myself that this would only make our area stronger in the long run. Help in one way or another. I know many people that were affected by this devastation, and it will take a very long time for them to get their lives on track. Monticello was outside the flood lines this time, but who knows what will happen next time Mother Nature calls.
Ben Okri (Thinkexist)
Many times in our history we have been faced with hardships and adversity. In 1993 and 2005 Monticello was struck by floods that devastated parts of the town. In 2008, Iowa has been hit by tornadoes, a bad winter, and now the worst flood I may ever see. This was the first time that I can remember that we had so much rain and Monticello didn’t get truly affected. Our water started to rise, panic began, and then it broke and receded. The campgrounds, golf course, and a couple small businesses were hit but nothing like before. I stood in relief after sand bagging for much of the day. Our community is very good about sticking together and helping take care of each other. We have learned from our earlier mistakes of not taking Mother Nature seriously.
As the next couple days went on, the rain continued around the area. Many other rivers began to rise, but the Maquoketa stayed firm. I was naive to think that since our river wasn’t rising, no one else’s would be either. As I stood and watched the news, I was shocked to see the surrounding areas begin to flood. Slowly I began to see the horrible outcomes that could be created. Flood levels were reached in many surrounding communities. But they didn’t stop there; everyday, new records were beginning to creep closer. Very quickly the panic began in places that never thought they would be affected. Monticello seemed to be affected more by sere horror and fear than by water. Everyone was on edge and didn’t really know whether to stay home and prepare or go to Cedar Rapids and help. Finally, the 500 year flood mark was breeched and the city of Cedar Rapids had the worst flooding that I may ever see. Places I ate at, went to church, and signed papers were all under water up to their doorways. I have never felt such devastation so close to home. Family members and friends lost their homes. A place that I drive to three to four times a week was in utter shambles. School was canceled because of the courageous efforts of Mount Mercy - housing the National Guard and helping in any way possible. I was very proud to tell my community members about all the progress and help Mount Mercy was providing. I truly believe that even if you didn’t live in Cedar Rapids, you will be affected in one way or another. My family owns a grain business and because the factories were flooded, their business was affected. My sister-in-law works at Mercy hospital and had to evacuate patients to other hospitals. I never thought that a flood could have such a catastrophic impact. Was I blind to think we could control Mother Nature? Dodge her bullet?
Finally, after the water began to recede, I drove down to the Cedar Rapids area. I don’t think I have ever felt so humble in my life - family’s lives thrown out to the curb, houses marked to be destroyed. I know that this is a huge obstacle for our area. But I could only tell myself that this would only make our area stronger in the long run. Help in one way or another. I know many people that were affected by this devastation, and it will take a very long time for them to get their lives on track. Monticello was outside the flood lines this time, but who knows what will happen next time Mother Nature calls.
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