Narrative ( Never give up)

Never Give Up

            August 19^th is a very important date to me; it has been ever since I was born, considering it’s my date of birth. On August 19, 2007 my birthday was the least of my concerns. I had been awoken by the towns’ siren, from instinct I knew that sirens never meant a good thing. Soon after I would find out that the date would change meaning to me, but also be remembered by several people. August 19, 2007 changed a lot of lives including those of my close friends and family.

            For the night of my birthday it was always routine to spend it with my dad at his house in Rushford MN.  As I sat in my dads living room he watched the news, giving that I didn’t really care for watching the news I was off playing games with my little sister. The voice of the weatherman was faint; it was the least of my concerns. Out of the corner of my eye I could see the rapid light flicker from the television screen. As I continued on concentrating on what move to make next on the board game my phone rings, its my mom.

“Hello, Krista are you safe?” she asked.

I replied, ”yes, why?”

My mom than continued to explain that my home town Houston MN, had been asked to evacuate the town due to the rapid level increase from the water of the Root River, in fear that it might reach the limit height that the dike can hold and wipe out the hole town. At this point I was really confused since I didn’t think much about the rain, I mean its Minnesota it rains all the time. Scared from the news that I had received I asked my dad where we should go to be safe, he explained to me that he lives on high ground and we wouldn’t have to worry about a thing. This calmed me down, and I just decided to call it a night, and soon fell asleep.

            Around 5 a.m. I was abruptly woken along with my dad from the loud roar of the towns’ siren. Terrified we both franticly went for our phones, the home phone along with my cell phones lines where so blocked up from the hundreds of people trying to use them at once that we couldn’t get a single phone call out. Both of us by this time are in a panic, all we can think about is our families, and if they are safe. Soon enough we are running out to the car to go check on my grandparents. We where in such a rush I doubt we even put our seat belts on. At this point I don’t know what to feel, the adrenaline, the fear, or the curiosity of what was going on inside the town of Rushford. As we raced into town there were several people racing out of town, giving me a sense of feeling that this was probably a bad idea. As we approached town we couldn’t see anything but water, what used to be a town now looked like a giant lake, only the roofs of the trailer houses where visible. The house that I used to go to for daycare when I was young was completely submerged under the mucky water, along with the main road into the town.

This was the main street (by bank)

There was no way of getting to my grandparents house the short way, so we had to turn around and take a bunch of back roads in hopes that they where not submerged under water. Luckily they where clear enough for us to get threw. As we arrived to my grandparents we noticed that the water was literally three inches from their back door, my grandpa had place many sand bags around the door blocking off the water. My grandparents lived in the perfect location; all the houses and businesses below them where completely flooded and ruined, as for the houses above theirs had been completely demolished from a mudslide. Seeing someone’s house broken and collapsed with its pieces scattered all around their yards and the road made me feel heartbroken. My grandparents where lucky to have a house to go back to unlike many others who lived in Rushford.

As I walked down one of the only streets that had not been filled with water I saw many mothers, fathers, children, and even old friends carrying the few things that they where able to get out of their houses. The streets where filled with people but yet silent, everyone was in complete shock, and no one had a clue on what to do. There where cops in boats going around house to house spray painting red “X’s” on the houses doors that had been considered unsafe to return too. My aunt and cousins where one of those houses with the red “X” they didn’t have a house to return to, they lived in the lowest area of Rushford and had lost everything but the clothes on there backs. By being in the center of this horrific situation so unexpectedly changed me and made me look at life in a different way. I began to see how lucky I was compared to a lot of people who had lost almost everything.

Big pile of trash from the houses that got flooded

As more and more people began to hear of what had happened to Rushford numerous amounts of people fled to help everyone they could. They brought in cleaning supplies, food, clothes, and shelter. FEMA along with Red Cross also provided temporary homes, and house supplies for those in need, to help them get a new head start. The workers and people of Rushford had no way of getting supplies of food unless it was brought in because the grocery store along with the gas stations had all been flooded as well.  From all of the water it was causing a lot of mold and bacteria to form inside people’s houses, because of this everyone was wearing masks. As the waters went down and people where let into there homes everyone pitched in to help clean, along with myself, and believe me those masks and bleach where every ones new best friends for several weeks. It was heartbreaking to see everyone completely gutting out their houses all the way from beds, fridges, baby toys, and even pictures that had been destroyed. Knowing that everything of mine was still safe was a relief for two reasons, I was able to donate several of my belongings to people that needed them more than me, and for the fact that I could help out in such a way.

This experience changed me in a good way it made me realize how much people needed my help and how thank full everyone was for the help that I could give them. Many of my family members and I will never forget August 19, 2007. This day changed a lot of peoples’ lives. This natural disaster came to surprise everyone in Rushford and Houston. This experience showed me that things happen unexpectedly and you have to react fast, even come out of your comfort zone to help strangers in need. Now as you drive threw Rushford I guarantee you will see a couple bumper stickers or signs with the saying “never give up”, this is in remembrance of how no one gave up on August 19, 2007.