2 years later

It has officially been 2 years after the floods took out Greene's historic main street and many homes along the banks of the Shell Rock River.

The Shell Rock River runs through the heart of Greene, Iowa. Most summers it draws large crowds of boaters who want to spend a warm weekend on the river tubing, skiing and catching some rays. In 2008, it had other plans. About a month earlier Butler County had be declared a disaster area due the EF5 tornado that hit Parkersburg, just 23 miles south of Greene and New Hartford. By the time June rolled around many other small Butler County towns started to fear a flood, but not the the extent of which it happened. The flood affected Greene, New Hartford, Shell Rock and Parkersburg, yet again. Butler County, still without a real stoplight, was hit hard and left many people wondering how each of these small communities would respond.

I think the nature of small community people kicked in. Those that fared better than others were supportive, meals were cooked and distributed, clean-up efforts were supported and time was volunteered to help each community bounce back. Sure the government sent in FEMA workers and the Red Cross, but I think it was the citizens in each town that truly brought their town back to life.

Looking at Parkersburg now, many of the houses have been rebuilt and the school is beautiful. The town growing, the remnants of the disaster are still visible in the lack of trees and areas that haven't rebuilt, but it definitely shows the effort each citizen is putting in to keep their town strong.

The main street of stores in Greene are all up and running again. The grocery store was completely re-done and as I said in an earlier post my grandparents building now offers nice rooms to stay in close to the river. However, the historic community center was torn down in the past year, which I think to many was very sad because of everything that has been tied to the building. Many of the homes that suffered are being torn down and the families have had to find new places. While there are still lingering effects of the flood and people still get a bit worried at the site of rising water, Greene is doing well.

In 2008, Greene had to cancel its town days, ironically named River Days, due to the flood. This weekend River Days kicks-off the 2nd celebration post flood. It kind of is a remembrance of what the community went through, but also shows we have bounced back.