SandbagsHave you been watching the rivers?

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has. They've got close to 3800 gauges on rivers around the country, and as of 7AM ET/3AM PT, 216 of them show some level of flooding is going on. NOAA puts all its data in a realtime map, showing in living color the pattern of rising waters all across the country.

The colors put the DHS Terrorism Alerts to shame, with their very specific, very measurable, and very precise description of the threat posed at each reporting station. Green: no flooding; yellow: near flood stage; orange: minor flooding; red: moderate flooding; purple: major flooding. Right now, there's a lot of red and purple on that NOAA flood map.

Iowa Governor Chet Culver notes that all nine of Iowa's major river basins are expected to hit record levels. In Cedar Rapids, the Cedar River crested yesterday at 31.12 feet, more than eleven feet above the previous record flood. Adam Belz of the Cedar Rapids Gazette has the details on what that means:

The Cedar River crested at 31.1 feet a little after 1:30 p.m. Friday and slowly began to recede, but Cedar Rapids is still reeling and likely will for the unforeseeable future.

Damage is in the many hundreds of millions of dollars, drinking water is severely threatened, the downtown is covered in water, Interstate 380 is closed south of the city, roughly 25,000 people have been ordered to evacuate their homes and about 12,000 were still without power as of Friday.

Barring significant rains, the floodwaters should recede in 10 days, by June 24, according to the National Weather Service.

The Iowa River in Iowa City is at 30.8 feet, already above their record of 28.5, and is not expected to crest until Tuesday, at 33 feet. That "barring significant rains" disclaimer is the real problematic piece. The Iowa Press-Citizen has more details about their situation.

Every disaster is, by definition, a disaster, but in my book, floods are the worst. Unlike fires or tornadoes or earthquakes, floods happen slowly. (Note: flash floods are a separate case.) The spring thaw raises the rivers with melting snow, and spring rains soak the fields until they can't absorb any more water. And if it keeps raining, the waters start to rise. People build their levees, sandbag around their homes and businesses, and watch the water and watch the skies. The rising waters are relentless, and you can't stop them. The best you can do is try to direct their flow, hope and pray that the levees hold, and stay the hell out of the way.

It doesn't even have to be raining where you are -- just upstream from where you are. It's maddening to be filling sandbags in 90 or 100 degree sunshine, but if you are downstream from the rain, that's how it works. Right now, the danger is in Iowa, but the folks in St. Louis, Chester, Illinois and Cape Girardeau, Missouri are getting mighty nervous, because all that water is coming their way. They've got weeks to worry about what they'll have to deal with.

If the levees don't hold, all bets are off. Bridges, bridge approaches, roads, and buildings can get swept away. Businesses and homes get filled with water, which ruins the structures and a lot (if not all) of whatever was inside, even if it was above the level of the water. The humidity and mold gets into every porous surface. No one can do anything about it until the waters recede, which always seems to take forever. And once you get back in, so much that is irreplaceable is beyond help: papers, photos, Christmas decorations and other family heirlooms, etc.

For those inclined to offer help, let me suggest three places to start.

Local media: If you check out different local news outlets, you can get the details on what is happening there and what is most needed. (Try the National Newspaper Association's links to Iowa newspapers to get you started.) The Iowa City Press-Citizen, for instance, has a "how to help" piece on their site. These kinds of stories can plug you into the local folks who know best what they need.

The American Red Cross is a second place to send support. ARC provides a certain amount of direct relief through their local chapters -- feeding the sandbag crews or setting up emergency shelters, for instance. They also funnel donations to local agencies or fund specific projects.

A third option I turn to in times of disasters is Lutheran Disaster Response. In my humble opinion, LDR is one of the best at taking donations of money and volunteers, and working with local communities to rebuild after disasters -- often for years afterwards, if that's what it takes. They are still coordinating relief efforts along the Gulf Coast following Katrina. LDR divides their work into five categories: preparing to respond, getting involved (coordinating volunteers), helping in hardship (providing grants), caring for the afflicted (emotional and spiritual help), and rebuilding lives (long term recovery).

Back in the great floods of 1993, my congregation in KC worked with a local shelter for flood victims in Atchison KS. These folks needed a place to stay and food to eat, often for weeks. Once the waters went down, many needed clothes and furniture and all the other necessities of life to replace those that had been ruined. At Thanksgiving, long after the waters had gone down, there was a big "thank you" dinner for all the volunteers at which those who had been displaced that summer could catch up with each other and those who had helped them. As a surprise for these families, the volunteers also collected an enormous amount of Christmas decorations -- some hand made, others purchased -- and gave the flood victims one last gift: a fresh start on Christmas.

I've been thinking about Iowa a lot this past week, and no doubt many of you have as well. Pull up a chair, fill your cup of coffee, and share a bit about pulling one another through the rising waters . . .

(h/t Synthesizers for the photo)