Alex's Winning Story -- The Flood Strikes Cedar Rapids

Here's the winning story in the Barnes & Noble Booksellers "Memoir Writing Contest" for fourth and fifth grade students in the Cedar Rapids area. It wasn't easy for Diana Nollen, Gazette Arts & Entertainment Editor, and me to select the Top 10 stories as explained in my Ramblin' column in today's Gazette. But we did agree this story by Alex Fernandez, a fifth-grade student at Cleveland Elementary School in Cedar Rapids, was the winner.

[naviga:h3 style="text-align:center"]The Flood Strikes Cedar Rapids

[naviga:h5 style="text-align:center"]by Alexander M. Fernandez

     My name is Alex Fernandez. I am 10 1/2 years old. I am from Cedar Rapids, Iowa. I chose to write about the Flood of 2008. Seven months ago, there was a terrible and destructive flood that hit most of Iowa, including Cedar Rapids. I kept a journal and wrote everything that had happened in that terrifying summer of 2008. I have shared some of my feelings in the journal. The flood was very devastating for the people of Cedar Rapids. The force of the water just ruined people's homes and lives. People watched as their homes were destroyed. Then about 2-3 days after the flood it crested. About a week later the water was back in the river but the destruction was everywhere. My grandparents were evacuated Wednesday, June 11, and didn't get back into their home until June 20.

     On June 13th, my mom got to go on a boat to rescue our cat, Cosmo. He was older so we thought he would be ok there. The Army National Guards told us that it might be weeks before my grandparents got back into their house. So she got in the boat and they took her to my grandma's. She said the water was up to the roof of the porch. She also said it was scary to be inside the house full of water. The man found Cosmo under a bed upstairs and they all got back in the boat and came back to the checkpoint.

     You cannot believe the way the house looked when I finally got to see it for the first time. I didn't even know what to say. We were all speechless. I was shocked. My little sister cried. My grandma, my mom and aunts cried. It looked like there had been a war. It smelled really bad and everybody was wearing masks.

     Furniture was thrown everywhere and the living room TV was thrown forward and shattered. The refrigerator was tipped sideways. Our family knew that to rebuilt it would take a lot of work. I looked around and saw many of my things covered in black mud. They said it was too hard to save anything. My skateboard, fishing pole, movies, clothes, and my pictures were all piled in front of the house by the street, along with the rest of the memories of my grandparent's house. I was very sad. Army trucks drove up and down the street. People were walking around everywhere talking to neighbors. They were all sad. They hugged and cried. People that did not live by my grandma's house would drive by the houses and point and shake their heads or take pictures. I guess they wanted to remember. I will never forget.

     Now the house was empty. You could see the mark from the flood water on the walls. It was almost to the ceiling. I tried to imagine what it was like. My grandpa and uncles have been working really hard on the house every day. They ripped all the walls out. I got to help. Everybody worked hard and even my brother and I helped knock out walls. Even though the flood didn't go upstairs my grandpa said the mold could have went up there too. Now they have a new house inside. It has painted walls, new floors, new basement. They are starting to run out of money so my grandma is talking to a lot of people in the city to help flood victims.

     Nearly a year later, Grandma and Grandpa's house is not finished. Close, but not yet. I cannot wait to get back to their house. My brother, sister and I have room there for when we spend the night. It is our other home. There will always be floods, hurricanes, tornadoes and other natural disasters. I only hope that I will never see another one in my lifetime like the flood I saw when I was ten.