Mason City, IA- It's been nearly a year and a half since record flooding ripped through hundreds of North Iowa homes. For some flood survivors, the job of cleaning up still remains.
The people who used to live in the houses on North Maryland Avenue in Mason City now refer to their neighborhood as a gated community.
That's because they have this orange fencing in front of their homes to keep people out.
John Last lived in his house on North Maryland for ten years before the flooding of 2008. He noticed the rising river on his way to church. By the time the service was over, he needed more than a prayer to turn back the water rising around his home.
"Between quarter to nine and let's say ten the fiver had breached the levy and had flooded this area probably by the time I left here at least waist deep where we're standing right now," he said.
He now lives in a rental home. He's nearly completed his FEMA buyout, and he thought his cleanup was over.
"There were some things left in my basement that were no good to me, they were just things that were damaged beyond use so when I left, I left them," he said.
But FEMA says it has to go, leaving john with a big mess. Luckily the United Way of North Central Iowa is organizing volunteers to help with the cleanup.
"They're dealing with a lot of paperwork and hoops to jump through and red tape to deal with, with the buyout process we just want to make sure they have it easy and we can help with the cleanup process," said United Way Regional Coordinator Alex Kuhn.
He says his organization helped hundreds of people immediately after the floods. Now they're working to help them in the long term.
"They have case advocates going out talking to a number of families in flood damaged areas and making sure some of those needs are met and that's why we're recruiting volunteers to help out," Kuhn said.
John says the outpouring of help is overwhelming, and he hopes to one day pay it forward.
"Iowans do help Iowans and [people in] Mason City do come to front without being asked they're just there, and I appreciated it," he said.
John expects his buyout will be complete in the next 30 days. So on Saturday morning they're looking for about 15 volunteers to help out here at john's house and another Mason City home.
Alex Kuhn is expecting a great response from volunteers. He thinks it will take about four hours to clean out the basement and get things moved out here to the curb.
If you would like to find out how you can help, call the United Way Of North Central Iowa at (641) 423-1774.
