Midwest Flooding: Where to Go to Build Levees
I used to live in southern Illinois and some of my best friends live in the St. Louis area. I love the area around the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. It’s a beautiful place and the people are excellent, hard-working folk. And they need our help. I’m not sure that people elsewhere realize that FEMA has now labeled the flooding in the Midwest as the third largest natural disaster in recent U.S. history, behind Katrina and 9/11. That’s HUGE.
As the flooding moves south, places north of STL are getting ready by building sandbag levees, and that work is saving towns throughout the area. I’ve been thinking of going up to help. But I had a difficult time finding anywhere online that told me where to go up there to join the work.
CNN shows the people working furiously in Lincoln County, MO, and sends you to their site to “find out how you can help”. But all of the links go to sites to donate money. I know relief organizations need more funding, but I also know that some folks (like me) prefer to donate manpower.
Finally, I found a STLtoday.com article that gave me a United Way number for the Midwest. One more call and I was told where to go if I decided to come up there tomorrow.
Hamburg, IL
Calhoun County
There are two routes into town, with a checkpoint at each where volunteers can report.
618-232-1500 (command post)
618-576-2417 (sheriff’s dept.)
Winfield, MO
Lincoln County
The command center is set up at Winfield High School
3920 E Hwy 47, Winfield, MO
Bring a shovel, sturdy shoes, gloves, and sunscreen
Also need volunteers for food preperation
Coordinator: Rev. Beverly Hardin
636-358-3776
636-566-8406 (command post)
EDIT: Just found another site with other places that are sandbagging. Click here for their info.
Obviously, the needs will be changing as the river crests in particular spots. CNN is saying the worst of the flooding will be around Hannibal, MO by Sunday. So if you do plan on going that direction to help, call the United Way at 800-427-4626 before heading out.
If anyone knows additional places that need volunteers, feel free to leave the location in comments and I’ll update this post as I can.
And if you’re too far away to travel or would rather donate money, you can go to the American Red Cross, AmeriCares, Farm Aid and other groups’ Web sites to donate by visiting CNN.com’s site here.
