Saylorville Lake Sunshine – 93 Degrees
When people ask me what we like most about the work we do, our initial response usually leans toward our preference for variety. Let’s just say we are getting our wish this summer.
The Natural Resources team that Champ is a part of has switched their mission from resource and wildlife management to public safety and flood monitoring for the next few weeks. As the lake continues to rise and comes ever closer to the magic elevation of 890 feet above sea level, when it will breach the emergency spillway, the water encroaches on new areas each day. Many sections of the 13 miles of bike trail that run through the parks are underwater. All of the boat ramps are closed and now some of the day use areas are being flooded. The campgrounds are built high on the ridges around the lake and will not flood. They are sold out for the holiday week as mother nature has her way with the area.
I stopped by Volunteer Village this morning to take a picture and ran into Champ and Will. They are tasked today with going around to all the areas that have been barricaded to be sure the barricades are still up and haven’t been removed by visitors who don’t seem to understand their purpose. It was strange to look at our village, normally bustling with activity, sit there vacant, yet still dry. Just before I left the Electricians arrived to begin the process of taking the panels and breakers out of the electrical supply that feeds the area. The water is at the edge of our little neighborhood and will begin flooding that area over the next couple of days.
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The road that goes across the dam will be closed today and part of our jobs will be to take shifts standing at the barricades to explain to people why they can’t go over the dam and see that they know the alternative route to get around the lake. So many roads are closed it is confusing, even for someone like me, who grew up here.
People surprise me in these situations in two ways. First, we see all the time how people step up and help each other during disasters. Second, the uglier side of human nature is that people are also very curious about disaster areas. Everyone wants to be able to say they were there and saw it first hand and brag about who was closer. We humans love a good tragedy. Being on the back side of this situation has been interesting. It’s amazing the danger people place themselves in just to get a good look. Closed gates and barricades mean nothing to some people. There is an unbelievable amount of activity at the lake monitoring and trying to keep everyone safe while they enjoy the areas that are open. I watched a family the other day playing in the debris ridden flood water line near the village. They had parked at the closed gate and walked around it. They were letting a small child run around in the shallow water on the road completely unaware that the ditch was there and is about 3’ deep. The kid trotted right off the road and went underwater. This kind of thing really brings out the stupid in people. With drownings happening every week in Iowa one would think people would give this situation more respect, they don’t. Anyone who has worked in public safety will understand. We are getting schooled in it. I will even be doing some shifts at the dam on my days off here at the store. July will be a busy month.
Until tomorrow…
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