I was quite shocked last week to read our local paper and see how many people have contacted the county to remove debris from their creek beds, in hopes of getting it cleared before we get more rain and snow and have major flooding issues again. Why was I shocked? Because the debris shown in photos and talked about within the article was from LAST JUNE's flood. They left it there all this time!!!
One couple in particular was shown with a shed or garage plopped in the middle of their creek bed. The county had put out a message a week or two ago asking residents to check their creeks for debris and to call in if they needed help, but the county was equally shocked to start getting calls about BUILDINGS and FARM EQUIPMENT in the creeks. The residents were standing around in the photos, talking about needing someone to help move the buildings, talking about how heavy farm equipment had been washed into the creeks as well... well I'm sorry but what the hell are they thinking?? The flood was in the middle of June last year. Why are the displaced buildings and equipment still sitting there? Whatever happened to Little House On The Prairie times when everyone on the farms helped each other out, or they helped themselves as much as they possibly could? Now they sit and look at debris in their creeks for 9 MONTHS and don't do anything about it. I'm sure that many did, but the ones featured in the story obviously did not. There was no mention in the article about any medical conditions or other reasons why the families didn't get the stuff moved by now. It purely centered on asking the govt for help. Apparently the county has been swamped with phone calls of large debris.... PEOPLE - the snow is melting, the ground is soaking wet, the rains are going to come, and more snow, and you are going to have serious problems if you don't get your act together and sort out your own properties!!!
I grew up in smaller areas, and I imagined getting out my fricken axe if I had to and spending as much time in summer and fall as possible chopping up any large wooden debris, or getting together with neighbours who had any tractors or big trucks that survived the flood and hauling out heavy debris from each other's acreages. SOMETHING at least. But no, let's just sit around and watch the snow pile up, in some places 3 times our normal snow amount, and then watch it melt and leave horrible muck so it's impossible now to try to pull anything out with a tractor. What's the county supposed to do about that? It's ridiculous. When will people learn that not only can they not rely on the govt, they SHOULDNT rely on the govt!!! So I guess some tax dollars get to go to the people who chose to wait for help rather than take some initiative themselves. I realize many were busy trying to plant what little fields they had left, but what about after they were planted and spent months growing? Why not get down to your creeks and clear that crap out of there? They had until the end of November when the first big snows hit, to clear that crap outta there. but .... no.