After floodwaters, does Iowa town have a future?

[July 15, 2008]  OAKVILLE, Iowa (AP) -- Oakville never had a lot. Small houses and mobile homes clustered around a corn seed company and a couple of bars.

But most of its 400 residents had lived in the southeast Iowa town for years, taking pride in their isolated community a dozen miles down a two-lane county road from the bigger community of Wapello.

Everything changed when the Iowa River broke through a levee and inundated nearly every building with more than 6 feet of murky, foul-smelling water. The June floods swamped many Iowa towns, but none more completely than Oakville.

So while others are taking a Midwestern pride in their vows to rebuild, it's understandable that many in Oakville are planning to pull out, leaving the town's very existence in question.

"The community, it's in shambles," said Drew Strasser, whose house was flooded with more than 5 feet of water. "Everybody is trying to help everybody but what can you do? You can't replace 90 percent of what everybody's lost."

About 100 people signed a petition submitted to the City Council last month, stating they're ready to seek a federal buyout of their property.

Of course, many in Oakville hope to stay.

Some, like Eric Hawkins, have given little thought to leaving, even though the floodwaters spun his mobile home sideways. A red sign posted on the home warns that it's condemned and unsafe to enter.

"It's kind of hard just to pack up and say the heck with this town. There's never going to be anther Oakville," Hawkins said.

But even those committed to staying acknowledge they're not sure how they'll do it.

"I've been kind of ... not thinking about the future, not dealing with this, but once I get in and start cleaning my house, it's going to be rough," he said, his eyes reddening. "It's hard. But what can you do but rebuild?"

Even for those who make the decision to leave, selling out to the federal government isn't simple or quick.

Bret Vorhees, a spokesman for the Iowa Emergency Management and Homeland Security agency, said it can take up to 18 months for federal money to become available, then to reach homeowners recommended for buyouts by local officials.

There may not be enough money for everyone who wants a buyout, and although no one will be forced to leave, they may be forced to elevate their homes or take other measures to protect against future floods.

"It's not automatic, and it's a lengthy process," Vorhees said.

Mayor Benita Grooms said some already have already moved away, but it will be months before it's clear how much of her town will remain.

"You have to do what you have to do -- that's what I tell people who say they're going to leave," Grooms said. "I don't fault anyone if they do leave."

Although the town's population will shrink, Scott Smith believes it will survive.

Smith, the associate pastor at Oakville United Methodist Church, said even if hundreds of people leave Oakville, the community can survive if it maintains the utility and phone services that are its lifeblood.

Ultimately, he said, people are more focused on the difficult choices they face than the town's future. And making those choices are tough as long as so many questions remain.

"No one knows what's going to happen," Smith said. "The pressing concerns are what is FEMA going to do? There are a million rumors going around."

If Oakville would disappear, it wouldn't be the first Iowa town to be wiped off the map after flooding.

Elkport was knocked down and carted away after heavy rains caused Elk Creek to swell and breach its levee in 2004. The 150-year-old town's 86 residents opted for federal buyouts and scattered around the area.

A federal buyout program also led to the demise of Littleport after the Volga River flooded in 1999.

Oakville resident Wes Shutt doesn't know whether he'll leave. He plans to tear apart the inside of his house to see whether repairs are possible, then make some choices.

He finds himself pausing often to take a deep breath and look over the destruction to his childhood home, where he's lived on-and-off throughout his life.

"It's hard because you remember all the good times you had here," Shutt said. "This was our home."

[Associated Press; By MICHAEL J. CRUMB]

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