Disaster changes perspective
Capital Electric - August 1, 2011
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Rodney boats to his home on Hoge Island nearly every day to check his house and the neighbors' pumps. If he doesn't go, another neighbor will go and report back. Rodney says a lot of good has come from this disaster. "Our neighbors became our family," he shares. |
The CO-OP SPIRIT is alive and well on Hoge Island
In June, Rodney Boll had one really bad week. Strong winds toppled one of the many cottonwoods in his yard, compromising the dike surrounding his home. Rodney and friends removed the tree, fixed the dike and sealed the leaks. But two short days later, another tree collapsed and landed on the house, once again disabling the dike.
The trees - and his spirits - might have gotten knocked down. But Rodney keeps getting up again.
Rodney, a Capital Electric member who lives on Hoge Island with his wife, Laura, and daughters Gretchen and Marley, may have the second-wettest home near (or rather, in) the Missouri River in northeast Bismarck. The first, his neighbor's home, collapsed and drifted off its foundation, and has now settled and sunk in what was once Rodney's backyard.
Most of the residents with dikes on Hoge Island are pumping ground-water 24/7. Rodney has a great deal more of the Missouri River inside his billiard room - which is now technically the pool room - thanks to the two breaches in his dike. But even though his home is a well, Rodney is already in restoration mode. He estimates the river recently dropped about six inches, so he's making plans to waterproof his dike - again - and pump out the water and tear out the floor.
"You don't have to look very far to find people who are in worse condition. There are people in Minot sitting on a cot somewhere," he shrugs. "You realize what is important and what isn't. This is just stuff. It's just a house. I'm healthy and young. I've got my wife and kids."
Rodney acknowledges his perspective has changed. Last year, he and Laura weren't satisfied with the home they moved into in 2004.
"Tomorrow, we'd take it back in its original condition and we wouldn't whine about it one bit," he says.
For him personally, Rodney says he believes more good will come from the flood than bad. As water levels continued to rise and Rodney coordinated an effort to save his family's home, the cooperative spirit of neighbor helping neighbor came alive on Hoge Island.
"Our neighbors became our family. And there were people I didn't even know who helped sandbag our house," he describes. "It was very humbling to see them busting their rear ends. How could I repay them? I don't even know who some of them were."
Rodney says the flood also gave the family an opportunity to "clean out the junk" they had accumulated over the years.
"When you have 24 hours to take everything you own and throw it in trailers and get it out of there, you think, ‘Why do I keep this stuff?' We kept the things that are important," he says.
While Rodney and Laura do not know if they can repair their home once the water recedes, for the most part they remain optimistic. Staying positive is a choice, and Rodney has made too many trips back and forth in the boat to his home to give up now.
"We're fighting hard out here," he summarizes. "We're the guy in the marathon. When the lights are out and they are cleaning the tables and tearing it down, we are that speck over the hill. We're not going to win, but we are going to finish."
Capital Electric thanks Rodney and Laura for sharing their story.
Lessons learned
"In the past, most people assumed flooding would never be a problem. Turns out, it was," says Brian Bitner, Burleigh County Commissioner and Capital Electric member. Bitner says the commission learned some valuable lessons from this year's historic flooding. "Significant disasters like this bring out the best in people - and the worst," he says.
In addition, some of the storm drainage projects facilitated by the commission to protect roads and homes "came back to haunt us," he shares. "The flood came along and water came in through the drains in a lot of places. That was unexpected."
Mary Senger, Burleigh County emergency manager, says Emergency Management Services, which coordinated and managed the disaster relief, reminds residents that even though they may have battled floodwater for months, there is still a long way to go in the recovery process.
"We are only a couple rainstorms away from where we started," she says.
City and county officials are meeting to discuss the flood's aftermath and recovery efforts. Senger says Emergency Management continues to collect and distribute information for those affected. She encourages people to visit www.burleighco.com for information ranging from going through the local permitting process and finding a contractor who is licensed and bonded through the state of North Dakota, to removing mold and debris, to learning if flooded trees and vegetation can recover.
"We also have a road closure map and narrative description of what's closed, as well as reports from the sheriff's department about specific areas and subdivisions," she describes.
While Senger says it is not time to dismantle dikes or remove sandbags, flood-affected residents should register with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) if they have not yet done so. FEMA's contact information can also be found at www.burleighco.com, as well as information on the disaster recovery center at the Bank of North Dakota.
"A lot of their programs are on a case-by-case basis. Each family is a unique application and may require different resources," Senger advises.
For more information on flood preparedness, people can also visit the home page of Capital's Web site at www.capitalelec.com. Bitner, who also serves on the co-op's member advisory committee, commended Capital for protecting the citizens and maintaining power safely.
"Capital Electric has really been front and center in helping from the start with information. Co-op employees have been attending meetings and providing excellent information about what people can expect if they lost power and want to sandbag around their electric boxes so line crews can work on them if possible," Bitner summarizes. "Capital Electric has done a good job of keeping people informed."
On behalf of Capital Electric, in return we thank Mary and Brian for their continued dedication and efforts.
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Rodney and Laura Boll |
Capital Electric Cooperative continues to monitor the flood situation and the power supply in its service area. Gordy Wiese, operations supervisor, reports the co-op has many flooded facilities including transformers, vacuum fault interrupters and miles of underground conductor. Linemen are noticing corrosion in the transformer boxes they are opening, and anticipate repairs. Crews will be inspecting, cleaning and replacing facilities as needed when the floodwater recedes.
As of late July, Capital had 25 members who had lost power, bringing the total to approximately 80 without electric service, as some had requested Capital pull their meter or turn off their breaker. At this time, Capital has no plans to de-energize any other areas unless directed by Emergency Management.
Meet your Capital Electric neighbors
• Rodney Boll owns Boll Cabinets (formerly known as Hager's Cabinets) in Bismarck. He credits his employees with helping the family move when floodwaters threatened their home.
• Laura Boll works for the U.S. Marshall Service.
• The couple met in Korea while serving in the N.D. National Guard.