Splicetoday

Pop Culture
Jun 17, 2008, 01:03PM

Here Comes The Flood

A University of Iowa student reflects on the unique experience of a flooded town as social rules fall by the wayside and everyone learns a little bit more about their role in the community.

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As natural disasters go, floods in particular are hard to react to. Not to say that any disaster is easy.

With tornadoes or other storms, there is a (relatively) localized amount of damage and, after a couple of days, only a (again, relatively) few people who can help. For those fortunate not to be directly affected, it's a quick rush to help thy neighbor.

But with floods, after a week, the disaster may still be there. For the lack of a better analogy, I've felt like the cartoon character screaming in freefall who has to take a comically awkward deep breath in order to keep screaming. (Though my situation has been nothing compared with that of the people featured in our and the rest of the country's news sections).

I'd imagine sandbaggers were asking themselves most of last week: "When is it OK to relax?" "Should I relax at all?"

There's an uneasy, guilty excitement that comes with the realization that no one has time to enforce the little rules.

When walking down to Benton, I was clearly breaking the curfew, but I didn't know what that meant.

I found out when a cop car crept by me but only seemed able or willing to give me a malevolent once over, as if trying to simultaneously discourage me from continuing and judge whether I looked stupid enough to get in the water.

This lack of definition has produced an unusually high number of contradictory moments. After passing the light, I stood on the bridge to watch the river and feel the debris pass underneath.

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