This weekend, Marilynn and I drove to Milwaukee, via Madison, to visit our daughters. Our youngest (Meg) begins her senior year tomorrow at the U of Wisconsin. Our oldest daughter (Anne), just married this summer (to Blake), moved to Milwaukee for work and grad school.
On the way, we wanted to stop in Rushford to view the flood damage first hand and offer some financial help to the local church where volunteers were being fed. The town of Rushford is between Rush Creek and the Root river. There is no place for the water to go, if the dike along Rush Creek is breached.
I’ve attached a few photos of the downtown to this entry. The pictures reflect a town that is on the rebound. There was hope in the air in Rushford, you could see in on the streets and hear it in people’s voices when you spoke with them. There was also evidence of a lot of volunteering.
Last year, I experienced natural disaster in my own Senate district when a tornado damaged Cleveland and the surrounding area in LeSueur County. I saw the same sense of hope and concern for neighbors. In the midst of tragedy, there is comfort in knowing that our neighbors and others who don’t even know the victims, will stop and help.
We stopped at a gas station and had a chance meeting with U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar. She was also visiting Rushford to see the effects of the flooding first hand.
The town was pretty cleaned up on Saturday, Sept 1st. There are piles of debris on the boulevards, the local grocery store had all of its freezers in the parking lot, and the water is not yet suitable for drinking or bathing.
Many businesses and homes did not have flood insurance. I heard that many might be unable to rebuild. While homes look pretty good from the street, water filled up basements and damaged the first floor of many buildings. There will be mold problems in many buildings. Generally, FEMA and the State can give zero or low interest loans to repair or rebuild damaged properties. I’m sure that the state will do its part to provide matching funds for Federal FEMA financial aid.
School is going to be open on Tuesday, and the football team played its game last Friday night.
I visited with the newly retired School Superintendent ( who works for the Catholic Church across the street now). He was worried about the number of school kids who might transfer to other school districts because of the flooding. Each child who leaves the Rushford schools cost the local district about $7000 in lost student aid per year. I suggested that the legislature could consider adjustments to the school aid formula this year to Rushford-Peterson Schools to give them time to recover.
The Governor is the face of State Government, and people want him to call a special session for some help in Southeastern Minnesota. I know that he will, once the agenda is negotiated with DFL leaders in the legislature. It’s important to the people in Rushford that we agree on that agenda quickly.
