Oakville Cleanup Continues

Oakville residents are slowly cleaning up their homes. If a building has been inspected and tagged for entry, people were able to go in, remove belongings and damaged property. The house below shows the complete gutting required for these houses.

Someone asked why this work was even being done? If the home had flood insurance, and most did not, the inspectors wanted to see all of the damaged items and structure. If there was no insurance, the property may be able to be salvaged. This can only happen if you could mitigate the damage which meant removing all of the items.

Any insulation within the walls soaked up water and helped cause mold growth. One friend's home had a solid mass of mold growing on every wall to a line 5 feet high. Mold could also grow within the wall cavities. So removing the drywall and plaster is a required step.

The house below was torn from its foundation and carried more than 5 blocks and deposited in a ditch.

The surge knocked nearly every mobile home off its foundation. Most have "red tags" on them to indicate they are not safe to enter. These homes may not have been entered in over six weeks.

Even though the Iowa DOT has been picking up debris, more is placed on the curbs each day. Second Street below is lined with damaged property, appliances and demolition debris.

FEMA pulled its Disaster Recovery Center from town on July 28. The Red Cross is planning on providing meals until August 3. Alliant Energy has restored electric power to town but buildings have to be inspected before power is turned on to each house.

Assistance to Oakville Area

The local grain elevator, Tri-Oak Foods, has had its parking lot converted into the Disaster Support Center. Volunteers check in for any assignments. Residents can pick up supplies and water.

The Red Cross provides meals to people working in town. You pick up noon and evening hot meals.

The original levee protecting Oakville has not been repaired. A temporary levee was created extended south from the original levee that had not been damaged, crossed the K-Road and encompassed part of Walker Hollow Road.

The Iowa River has raised due to rain and is lapping against the temporary levee. There are houses west of the levee that are currently under water and may stay that way until the original levee is repaired. It has been reported this may not start until some time this fall.

More Area Damage

The house below was moved from its original location and placed in a field.

This garage was previously attached to the house which can be barely seen in the center of the picture. The house was torn from its foundation, rotated 180 degrees and floated nearly three blocks away.

The foundation below is all that remains of another home. This house was washed away in the original surge and crashed against a creek bank over four blocks away.

Fields have been wiped clean of nearly all corn and bean crops. The corn in the background shows how high the plants would have been.

Another house had been torn from its foundation and wrapped into an electric pole. The house is "red-tagged" which means you cannot enter it due to the damage that occurred.

Removing the Flooring

While some of the floors were poured concrete or hardwood, the bathroom, kitchen and dining area had vinyl sitting on a plywood subfloor. The bathroom only needed the plywood removed so that went quickly. The kitchen and dining were more challenging. Under the plywood were many more layers.

There was a layer of fiberboard and beneath that was four layers of linoleum-style flooring. They seem to have been some of the ugliest patterns available. There also seemed to have been what looks like a fire in the kitchen as there was a tarry smell and black marks on some layers.

Some places had cardboard placed as fillers to even out the layers.

There are quite a few nails and staples left in the bottom hardwood layer. Beneath this are the floor joists.

This pretty much ends the teardown of the first floor of the house. The furnace needs to be pulled and that will be the end. A neighbor with a similar house received a $70,000 estimate for repairs to his house. The county has a value on the house of $30,000. If you pay this amount to repair the house, what is its real worth? How many people would want to move in to town?

The town has many things to think about, including if it wants to exist again. The costs to rebuild the town's water, sewer and roads have not been evaluated yet. So far, half the residents do not plan on moving back. Some can't because of age, disease or financial reasons. Others are stuck in a difficult situation. They can't afford to repair their homes and can't afford a new house. One in this situation is on Social Security and doesn't make enough to qualify for a low-interest loan to make repairs.

The answers aren't easy nor coming quickly enough for anyone right now.

Gutting the Inside

If you don't gut the inside of the house up above the level the water reached, mold will grow on the building materials and insulation. Much of the house had plaster and lath that had been covered by panelling. The panelling had been removed and the plaster had to be dealt with.

Much of the insulation was blown-in cellulose. It soaked up the water, then fell to the bottom of the wall cavities. A few areas had other kinds of insulation.

The walls were still quite wet since the insulation soaked up the water like a sponge and held it. It had to be scooped out by hand and this was a stinking job.

The staircase behind makes it difficult to remove the lath. The furnace is located in the closet beneath the steps and must be removed as well.

The bathroom toilet and shower had to be removed to gain access to the walls. Each room had some unique difficulties. A wall stud, on a non-load bearing wall, had to be removed in order to take the shower out. It had been glued together when assembling so it was easier to remove the stud than breaking the shower.

Outside Work and Disposal

Most of the damaged contents were placed outside for picking up.

The items had to be placed close to the curb for disposal.

One morning, a line of Iowa State DOT dump trucks were parked in town.

Various equipment was used to scoop up the debris for disposal. One of the DOT drivers said the items were taken to a location so some workers could look through it for items to recycle.

The workers couldn't scoop up all of the debris so some is left for the homeowner to place into a pile for later pickup.

The house had to have the siding removed so the underlying material could dry. It had fiberboard siding, an asphalt layer, then tar paper.

After removing the three layers, board siding was reached. This may also have to be removed to get to lower layers.

Other Oakville Flood Victims

The height the water reached can clearly be seen on this house.

The rushing current from the Iowa River washed away the gravel driveway leaving the sidewalk and culvert behind.

Highway 99 collapsed where it turned south in Oakville. The hole measured approximately 50 feet in length and 12 feet deep. The Iowa State Department of Transportation filled in the gap with gravel though the road is still closed to traffic due to breaks farther south.

Water pooled in various areas and a scum was found on the water. Tadpoles grew into frogs which are found everywhere. Some residents have found snakes inside their homes upon returning.

The local tavern shows the water level from the flood. It has a "red tag" on it which indicates structural damage and may not be safe to enter.

Various locations around Oakville have tape with measurements on them.

A closeup shows the waters reached 4.70 feet high on the garage door.

The local grain elevator, Tri-Oaks, had fuels available to purchase. The fuel tanks floated out of the ground, pushing through the asphalt covering.

A resident braves the water current to survey the damage to his town.

The garage was taken for a ride nearly half a block away from its original location.

Memories of Oakville

I wrote an essay that I sent to Attack Machine who posted it. It tells my memories of the town I grew up in. I thank them for including it with their other writings.

Tearing Down the Inside

All of the first floor rooms had panelling on them. This had to be torn out to reach the walls, most which are plaster and lath.

The dark spots are mold that was growing under the panels in the bathroom. The mold was reaching close to the ceiling which was 10 feet in height.

The panelling from the bathroom, kitchen and bedroom were placed in the middle of the room before being taken to the curb for disposal.

When the panelling was removed in one of the rooms, you could see the old wallpaper and clearly see the height of the water in the room.

Dark spots indicate mold in this room as well.

Canned water from Anheuser-Busch and Miller was available. You had to wear rubber boots due to the mud prevalent in the yard.