Man is totally helpless against the wrath of nature; like he has been for thousands of years. With repeated instances of flooding in the Midwest region of the US, people here have begun to reconcile to the fact that things can go out of hand in the months of March and April. But since there can be hardly anything done to prevent flooding, people are now better equipped to cope with flooding. It boils down to how much you want to cooperate with the authorities or let it pass and think that nothing could possibly happen because you are out of the danger zone.
2011 has also been no less; the floodwaters have already drowned several hundreds of homes besides claiming a handful of lives, particularly in Tennessee and Ohio. Billy, one of the persons whose house has been swept away remarked, “There is nothing we can possibly do. All we can do is just rebuild and move on” However this 62 year old is thankful to his daughter Christy who was smart enough to anticipate the situation and bought flood insurance. They will receive compensation which will be easy enough to rebuild their lives again.
The first week of March this year, saw storms which was followed by floods that swept through the Midwest and South. Flooding was rampant in 88 counties of Ohio while it claimed four out of five lives in the US, in Tennessee alone. Findlay in Ohio actually saw Blanchard River rising less than 5. 5 feet above the flood level. One can recall the catastrophic flood four years ago that has left a huge dent in the financial reserves of the country; though the impact has not been so extensive this year, so far; it is still nerving, nevertheless.
Counties in Midwest are now looking for ways and means to prevent future flooding to affect their lives and property. The topic is now a top priority as media channels and government authorities are constantly beaming information on how people can possibly protect themselves through laying sandbags appropriately, preparing an emergency kit and moving to areas that are safer. Studies however, show that it can take many years and cost more than $100 million for these areas to be fully equipped against floods, by building a series of flood walls, channels to divert waters and earthen levees.
A mortgage officer, Joe Walters, found himself to be safe due to putting sandbags. He had slept that night on air mattress that was surrounded by sandbags. The basement was flooded with water but thankfully, the sandbags played their role in keeping out water from reaching his floorboards. Firefighters in Norwalk, found the body of a 51 year old woman, Lisa Roswell, whose car was sunk in rising flood water. She had fought for her life, trapped in her blue Volkswagen Beetle convertible. She had called 911 pleading for help as the raging water pulled her car into the Huron River. But before the authorities could act, things went out of hand. In another place in Tennessee, a government employee lost his life when he was sucked into a drain pipe after he was trying to remove debris to unclog it. The water rushed into the pipe and carried him into it. So from these experiences, we understand that we have to be quite careful about the floods and not walk or drive near risky areas and listen to the authorities from time to time.