Iowa floods - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

MTUpower · #1 04-21-2009, 09:16 PM

Here's some flood for thought...

These are some really good pictures of the actual flooding in Iowa and I think a lot of them are of downtown Cedar Rapids, Ia.

"" Iowa ""

MAKES YOU THINK

WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN IOWA (THE HEARTLAND OF AMERICA ) AND
NEW ORLEANS ?

NEW ORLEANS KNEW THAT A HURRICANE WAS COMING AND CHOSE TO DO LITTLE ,
THEN EXPECT THE GOVERNMENT AND THE TAXPAYERS TO REBUILD THE CITY AND
THEIR HOMES BETTER THAN THEY WERE PRIOR TO THE HURRICANE
IOWA JUST WATCHED IT RAIN AND DEALT WITH IT.

Where are the Hollywood celebrities holding telethons
asking for help in restoring Iowa and helping the folks
affected by the floods? Where is good old Michael Moore?

Why is the media NOT asking the tough questions about
why the federal government hasn't solved this problem?
...Asking where the FEMA trucks and trailers and food services are?
Why isn't the Federal government moving Iowa people into free hotels in Chicago and Minneapolis ?
When will Spike Lee say that the Federal government blew up the levees that failed in Des Moines ?

Where are Sean Penn, Bono, and the Dixie Chicks?

Where are all the looters stealing high-end tennis shoes, cases of beer and television sets?

When will we hear Governor Chet Culver say that he wants to rebuild a 'vanilla' Iowa .... because that's what God wants?

Where is the hysterical 24/7 media coverage complete
with reports of shootings at rescuers, of rapes and murder?

Where are all the people screaming that George Bush hates
white, rural people? My God, where are Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, Oprah, and Ray Coniff Jr?

Where are the government bailout vouchers? The government debit cards?

There must be one hell of a big difference between the values of the people of Iowa and values of the people of Louisiana

MTUpower · #2 04-22-2009, 09:56 PM

wow- is this too hot to handle?

TheDon · #3 04-22-2009, 09:59 PM

wait, what happened?

Botnst · #4 04-22-2009, 10:04 PM

It's dated. the first time I saw it was in the flood in the midwest after Katrina. Then there were the fires in California -- rewritten for the time. Etc.

mkiii88turbo · #5 04-23-2009, 10:11 AM

All your pics are dead, so I'll post some...

The 1st, 2nd and 4th pics were taken about a block away from my office in downtown Cedar Rapids. Yes, that is the interstate in the first picture that is raised about 20 or 25 ft above the ground. The dairy queen was right across the street from my office. Was, they tore it down because it would have cost millions of dollars to reopen. The hospital is ten, yes, TEN blocks away from the river. The last picture is our city hall and those lines through the water are the tops of the bridges. Normally we all go down around Labor Day and watch concerts on that island, well normally.

It was very surreal. The morning I went to work and then the police came by and told us we didn't have to leave but we'd be dumb not too. So we cleared out the office and tried to sand bag the best we could.

Anyway. What the OP said about Iowa, is the greatest part. We still have FEMA here helping out, and they're doing a good job. The few days after the flood, everyone figured out a way to help. If that meant not showering for a few days or flushing the toilet to conserve water or going downtown and taking a pressure washer to a side of the building. We didn't see ourselves as victims, because we aren't. ***** happens. Yeah, we lost some amazing parts of our city. Sure, hundreds of city blocks were under water. Sure, we are still not "rebuilt."

That doesn't matter. We are going to rebuild, we already are.

I've lived in Iowa for almost all my life. My wife and I grew up here, and after college moved away to the east coast. While we enjoyed it out there, we were always Iowans. All of my friends out there considered me an Iowan, even though they couldn't place Iowa on a map. (We raise Potatoes, right? No that's not right, the Buckeye state...)

I had a customer one day while I was out on the east coast, if I was originally from the midwest. I told him yes and asked how he knew. He told me I exuded midwestern. Not from my accent, but my work ethic. (Not saying other peoples work ethic is bad...) Iowa work ethic is different. Iowa is, as much as we hate to say, a farmers community. Although I have never lived on a farm nor really spent a lot of time on one...the work ethic is still there. We wake up early. If something is dropped on our desk at the last minute, we do it. Complaining just takes more time. We just do it and be done with it.

We are proud to not be New Orleans. I heard that as many people got displaced in the floods as they did in Katrina. Don't know if that's true, but I know that a lot of residental homes were destroyed not only in Cedar Rapids, but in Palo, in Des Moines, in Iowa City and beyond. We don't need Hollywood types coming down and flapping there jaws. I think if Michael Moore came here he'd be run out of town (I'm a Dem by the way and there are a bunch of us around here. We are a blue state. Moore's a flippin idiot.) We are going to fix our state, and it's going to be better.

Interesting tidbit though, although I've never lived on a farm, I can tell what kind of farm animal is close just by the smell...

TX76513 · #6 04-23-2009, 01:28 PM

The squeeky wheel gets the grease. But you already knew that.