Et cetera : NCCC\'s Cedar 4 in Pierre, South Dakota

By: Cedar 4
In Pierre, South Dakota, Cedar Four, along with Oak One and Oak Four, is working with the Lutheran Social Services of South Dakota to help the disaster areas hit by the floods. In June of this year, flooding of record proportions occurred on the Missouri River, overflowing the banks and washing away trees, cars and homes. Because of the attempts to curb the flowing waters, many of the Levis that were hastily constructed were placed on the wrong side of a few unfortunate houses. This caused the homes to be flooded with over 150 gallons per second of water. The aftermath was evident as huge lakes of silt from the bottom of the river settled onto lawns, and inside garages and on the 1st floor of homes.

Since most of the initial work done by F.E.M.A and the Red Cross has mainly subsided, disaster relief efforts that help out with the physical labor has begun. The AmeriCorps NCCC teams stationed in Pierre have been mucking and gutting houses, town buildings and different structures along the Missouri River. Mucking and gutting includes the removal of the aftermath of the flood, taking out all the areas that contain or may potentially receive black mold, helping home owners remove valuable items that they consider worth keeping, Calling the last few residents within the disaster area to see if they still need help with mucking and gutting, and a general beautification of the buildings AmeriCorps teams work on. The Lutheran Social Services of South Dakota along with many other disaster relief organizations are working hard to clean up the aftermath of the Missouri River Flood. Cedar 4 and the other NCCC teams are returning to Vinton on Tuesday, November 8 to wrap up their term of service with NCCC before going home.