Carolyn and Calvin Braastad stand on the deck of their new home, erected just west of their home damaged by the June flood. They say they stayed on their property due to its beauty and a long family history. DEB NICKLAY/The Globe Gazette
Streams rising in Midwest
CHICAGO (AP) — Midwesterners got ready for the possibility of flooding as runoff from heavy weekend rain and melting snowbanks bloated streams, and high wind caused new power outages for thousands in Michigan.
Flood warnings were posted Sunday over sections of Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and northwest Ohio, the National Weather Service said.
Flood warnings remained in effect for the Raccoon River in Des Moines, where ice jams caused minor flooding, closing a street and two parks.
Flood warnings also are in effect for the Chariton River at Chariton, the Iowa River at Wapello and Marengo, the English River at Kalona, the La Moines River at Colmar and the North Skunk River near Sigourney.
Craig Cogil, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in Des Moines, said no serious flooding was expected in Iowa. He said that in many areas the flooding is caused by the combination of snowmelt and rainfall.
Temperatures rising into the 30s Sunday continued the melting of heavy snow and ice that had started Saturday with temperatures as high as the 60s in some areas of the Midwest.
See more on potential Midwest flooding on Page A2.
CHICAGO (AP) — Midwesterners got ready for the possibility of flooding as runoff from heavy weekend rain and melting snowbanks bloated streams, and high wind caused new power outages for thousands in Michigan.
Flood warnings were posted Sunday over sections of Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and northwest Ohio, the National Weather Service said.
Flood warnings remained in effect for the Raccoon River in Des Moines, where ice jams caused minor flooding, closing a street and two parks.
Flood warnings also are in effect for the Chariton River at Chariton, the Iowa River at Wapello and Marengo, the English River at Kalona, the La Moines River at Colmar and the North Skunk River near Sigourney.
Craig Cogil, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in Des Moines, said no serious flooding was expected in Iowa. He said that in many areas the flooding is caused by the combination of snowmelt and rainfall.
Temperatures rising into the 30s Sunday continued the melting of heavy snow and ice that had started Saturday with temperatures as high as the 60s in some areas of the Midwest.
See more on potential Midwest flooding on Page A2.
The name “L. E. Prall,” her grandfather, is hob-nailed to the side of the wood-and-metal chest, the size of a large trunk.
Carolyn Braastad’s love of this land — at 734 N. Carolina — is sturdy, too.
Six months ago the waters of the Winnebago River, just to the west, changed the course of her family’s history that had been written on this two acres on North Carolina Avenue for almost 125 years.
“We never in our wildest dreams thought the house could flood,” said Carolyn, 70. “We always said, ‘We live on North Carolina; no problem here.’ ”
Her great-grandfather and great-grandmother built the small family home in 1884. In an adjoining 10 acres to the north, family members also built homes.
“At one time, they called this areas ‘Prallville,’ ” Carolyn said.
Just down the street lived Dr. Charles Marston, who delivered Carolyn on Jan. 1, 1938, at 12:10 a.m.
Seventy years later, as another new year begins, Carolyn and her husband, Calvin, 84, begin a new chapter, in a new home — but on the same family parcel.
True, the new modular home sits seven feet higher than the original house, and it is located a dozen yards or so west of the original house, which will be demolished this spring.
But the family is still here.
“It’s so beautiful here; we can see deer,” said Calvin, pointing from a back deck to a spot near the river.
The June 8 flood came quickly.
Water rushing over the river levee began spilling into North Carolina neighborhoods. The Braastad’s slept in their camper in the Shopko parking lot as a precaution.
When they returned, they found all the contents of their dirt basement “pretty much gone,” Carolyn said.
Even in the worst of floods, however, some history was preserved.
The only two containers whose contents survived were the ones that held all their old family photographs.
“We couldn’t believe it,” she said.
Only one holiday item stored in the basement was salvageable — an olive wood nativity purchased by the Braastad’s in Jerusalem several years ago.
“I was so hoping this would survive,” Carolyn said, handling the pieces. “They need a little more work, but they’re fine.”
When spring comes, the Braastad’s will salvage a few items from the family home — a wainscotted kitchen cabinet is one. Furniture and family china, an old Victrola — items that won’t fit into their new home — will go to children.
“This was ‘Grandma’s house,’ to my kids, so it’s different,” Carolyn said. “But it has worked out OK; everything I’ve really cared about is going to family members.”
The Braastad’s lived with no hot water or furnace since June. When the new modular home arrived on Nov. 13 and Nov. 14, a new chapter began and the couple was more than glad to move.
West sunlight fills the new kitchen and living room — a bright counterpart to a dismal year.
“The sad thing is, is that the flood isn’t over for a lot of people who went through it; it’s still here for them and I think it will be for some time. We’ve been able to move on, but it’s not that way for everyone,” said Carolyn.
The couple is optimistic that with a new home, a new life begins — again.
“It’s got to be better; 2009 can only go up,” Carolyn said with a smile.
