VALLEY — Months after catastrophic March flooding left the communities of Valley and King Lake reeling, organizations from Lincoln and Omaha continue to help residents rebuild their lives.
Saturday afternoon, when residents of both towns gathered at United Faith Community Center here for an early Thanksgiving feast, they took some time to reflect on how far they've come.
"We wanted to honor the victims, show them that they're loved, and let the volunteers come and meet with them in a relaxed setting and breaking bread together,†said Ken Gruber, the president of Omaha Rapid Response, a disaster relief group consisting of mostly Omaha-area church congregations.
Gruber first met some of the Valley and King Lake residents last March when he was on an air boat helping rescue people trapped by the floodwaters. Since then, Omaha Rapid Response has teamed with volunteers from Lincoln's Messiah Lutheran Church and Redeemer Lutheran Church to help affected residents repair and rebuild their homes.
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Almost 40 of those volunteers cooked close to 400 pounds of turkey and served other traditional dishes to more than 300 members of the two communities Saturday.
“It's really humbling to see the response from our community,†said Omaha Rapid Response board member Dianne Bailey of Waterloo.
Saturday's gathering also served as a reminder that even eight months later, many of the flood victims still have not moved back into their homes.
"It was just so overwhelming," said Lynn Murray Smith of Lincoln. "And I guess I was really hopeful that people were going to be able to rebuild their lives, you know, their homes."
Many of the homes in Valley and King Lake were destroyed, while others had damaged floors, mud-covered furniture and broken windows.
Some residents left for good. Others — such as Jim and Loraine Davenport of King Lake — have lived in campers in their backyards.
"We were all on the same boat," Loraine Davenport said.
There was no running water and no electricity, and it was difficult to find funding or resources in the aftermath, the couple said.Â
But others have stepped up to help. Contractor and Messiah Lutheran Church member Barry Radebaugh and other volunteers have gotten up early every Saturday morning since August to make the drive north and help install drywall and repair structural damage.
"There was a lot of help in the beginning when the flooding was in the news," he said. "There was a lot of up-front attention. When the media died down, I didn’t hear much, and I kind of assumed they didn’t need our help. And that was absolutely not true.â€
Radebaugh has helped renovate eight homes, and the crews continue to work hard to get more people back on their feet.
He said the opportunity to help the victims and give them a second chance has been motivating.
“I’ve grown to appreciate people more," he said. "It’s really heartbreaking to see these people losing everything they have, and they still have the motivation to move forward. It helps the volunteers to see the people are still strong.â€
Because of the efforts of the volunteers, residents such as the Davenports have been able to move back into their homes after months of living in a cramped space.
“I was very grateful for their help," Jim Davenport said. "I'm not someone to go out and ask for help, but they came in and they said, ‘We're here to help.' And I'm like, ‘Thank you. Thank you.’â€
He said the past few months have also helped create close friendships.
"It brought us much closer together as a community," he said. "We're not going anywhere.â€