Flood victims continue to struggle with losses, emotional toll

Two years and numerous city blocks have removed Rick and Teresa Davis from the Flood of 2008.

Sitting in the tastefully decorated living room of their new home, it might appear that the two have moved on since their house on Eighth Street NW was swamped by Cedar River floodwaters.

That's only partially true.

“This whole thing has taken its toll on us,” says Rick Davis, a retired railroad worker.

Like many who experienced the 2008 flood, the couple still battle bureaucracy, try to navigate confusing rules and otherwise deal with the aftermath of the epic disaster.

The Davises cope by attending meetings and staying informed.

Others face bigger struggles.

“Many people feel like they should be over it two years later,” says Cindy Kaestner, executive director of the Abbe Center for Community Mental Health in Cedar Rapids, “but it's not uncommon for folks to react several years after the event.”

Disasters like the flood affect everyone differently, Kaestner says. Some people may have trouble sleeping or eating or suffer from depression.

A program through the Iowa Department of Human Services offers up to eight free counseling sessions for people in any way affected by the flood or tornadoes of 2008.

“The typical Iowan is self-reliant,” says DHS spokesman Roger Munns. “We are independent and reluctant to ask for help. It helped us recover from the disaster. But for others, the suffering is extended for those very reasons. They wonder, ‘Why am I not strong enough to recover?' ”

The program, called Ticket to Hope, has served 320 Iowans since it began one year ago, says DHS program manager Victoria Brenton.

Brenton noted that many Iowans are in the reconstruction phase of disaster recovery.

In that phase, survivors face the need to adjust to new surroundings as they continue to grieve their losses. Emotional resources within the family may be exhausted, and social support from friends and family may be worn thin.

Georgeanne Cassidy-Wescott, director of Adult Behavioral Health Services at St. Luke's Hospital, says it's difficult to separate the flood from other stressors, like the economy.

Still, psychiatric cases there have surged, including an 8 percent increase in inpatient admissions in 2009 over 2008.

The same is true in Johnson County, where Sherri Zastrow, operations director of Community Mental Health Center for Mid-Eastern Iowa, says cases are on the rise. In the past six months, the center's monthly numbers have risen from up to 75 clients per month to up to 110 per month, she says.

Iowa doesn't track suicides related to the disasters, but Deb Peddycoart, quality director of Foundation 2 in Cedar Rapids, says that the center handled more than 200 suicide calls in July 2008 and July 2009, peak levels for both years.

Statistics for callers with depression, economic concerns and substance abuse issues don't show any definite trends in the past two years at Foundation 2, which operates a statewide crisis line.

The latest worry of the Davises is that their flooded home won't be bought out. They bought their new home on Moose Drive NW under the state I-JOBS program, and it's being called a potential duplication of benefits, which could put them at risk of going into greater debt.

Then there are the everyday concerns. Items such as a computer and weed trimmer still haven't been replaced as the overriding concern was getting into a new home.

Their German shepherd, Amber, struggles to lift herself up from the back porch and limps through the house. They fear she will soon succumb to the spine deterioration that set in after the flood.

“It's been a roller coaster,” says Rick Davis, who has myofascial syndrome, a chronic form of muscle pain that was exacerbated by the flood.

Teresa Davis, who works in customer service at U.S. Bank, tries to keep a positive outlook, but often hears the sad stories of people who suffered losses in the flood and are still recovering.

One of the reasons the couple moved from the Time Check neighborhood - where Rick Davis grew up and where his parent's home, closer to the river, was recently demolished - is because of their concerns about another flood.

“You'd be in fear everyday,” Rick Davis says. “I can't live like that.”