Helping flood victims

Collections organized in New Ulm, Fairfax

By FRITZ BUSCH Journal Staff Writer

FAIRFAX - On Monday afternoon in the Freitag Trucking shop, three Fairfax women sorted, boxed and labeled donated supplies bound for Iowa flood victims.

Barb Freitag, Laurie Kaukola and Mary Nachreiner all have their own special reasons for doing the work.

Helping flood victims is old hat for Freitag, the wife of a Fairfax truck line owner.

In 1997, she organized a local relief effort that sent 31 pallets of clothing, food and other supplies for flood victims in Fargo and Grand Forks, N.D. and East Grand Forks.

Kaukola's cousins lived in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, one of the most flood-devastated cities in the country.

There, the Mississippi River crested at 31 feet, more than 50 percent higher than the record floods of 1851 and 1929 crested at 20 feet.

In Cedar Rapids, 1,300 city blocks and 3,900 homes were flooded, doing more than $1 billion in damage.

One positive result of the flood was that it created new jobs consisting of moving soaked debris from flooded businesses and industries.

"My cousins said they felt fortunate they had other relatives in (Le Mars) Iowa where they could live during the flood. Lots of other people didn't have a place to go," said Kaukola.

Nachreiner said her sister and brother-in-law near Fredericksburg, Iowa lost their crops when they found their driveway under six feet of water.

"They couldn't leave their house for four days, but their kids enjoyed boating around it," said Nachreiner.

Some of her other relatives living in Mason City, Iowa said they were without power and running water for five days, so they used porta-potties.

Freitag recalled seeing porta-potties in the Fargo and Grand Forks floods 11 years ago.

Denny and Jen Waloch of New Ulm are leading local Iowa flood relief efforts.

Needed items include toiletries, soap and cleaning supplies, new clothes, new shoes and new household goods such as sheets, pillows and blankets.

A truck will be filled with supplies from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Wednesday, July 2 in the Walgreens parking lot on North Broadway.

Items will be hauled to Cedar Rapids and donated to the United Way and Goodwill Industries of East Central Iowa.

Monetary donations can be made to the United Way - Iowa Flood Relief or to Jen Waloch.

For more information, call the Walochs at 359-5780 or waloch@newulmtel.net.

(Fritz Busch can be e-mailed at fbusch@nujournal.com).