Volunteers Helped Palo from Major Damage

By Claire Kellett, Anchor/Reporter

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By Daren Sukhram

Story Created: Aug 27, 2009 at 10:07 PM CST

Story Updated: Aug 27, 2009 at 10:07 PM CST

PALO - Sump-pumps were pumping hard in the Linn County town of Palo Thursday. But even that didn't prevent water from creeping into basements.

A group of volunteers in Palo defines impromptu. An empty parking lot in town quickly transitioned into a massive sandbagging effort late Thursday afternoon.

"We were in our office and someone from the community resource center called to say they needed help, so we found our boots and got out here," said volunteer Luisa Sondie.

People of all ages - some who don't even live in town - scooped sand, tied bags, and loaded trucks without complaining. Homes in Palo needed sandbag walls to ward off threatening water.

"That's my parents house, they've been on vacation, and we've been trying to get a hold of them for a little while now," said Troy Ciha.

But no one, not even those home Thursday, expected this much water to make its way into their yards.

"This is much worse than I thought but it hasn't stopped raining for two days," said Palo city councilmember Paula Gunter.

Roughly eight inches of rain in two days was too much for the creek that runs through town.

Within a matter of hours, Dry Creek overflowed its banks, quickly bringing back bad memories of last year's flood.

Last summer's flood affected almost all of the roughly 400 homes in Palo and forced the entire town to evacuate.

The worst damage this time was 20 homeowners dealing with water in their basements.

"We got a lot more friendly with the neighbors since the flood," said volunteer Karl Haible.

Sandbaggers willing to work hard saved the town from more damage. Palo leaders say one reason Palo has problems when it rains so much is because it has 3 major watersheds that run through town and empty into the Cedar River.

Another reason is because the town is very flat.

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