Watching the river rise

Amy Hesser has lived in the house on the corner of Garth Avenue and 253rd Street overlooking the Skunk River for 10 years. She has moved her belongings in and out of the house four times when flooding threatened her and her family's safety. On Wednesday, May 29, she was watching 253rd Street carefully.

'Once water crosses that road, then we have to worry,” Hesser said. 'We've been pretty lucky the last five years.”

It's nerve-wracking to watch the Skunk River rise and not be able to do anything about it. Hesser said she has been going crazy all day watching it and was starting to think about packing up boxes of her belongings once again.

Earlier that day, the owners of Butch's River Rock Cafe moved everything out of the restaurant, including the grill, fryer, stove, refrigerators and tables and chairs.

'We've had to move out a couple times, but some are predicting this to be the worst flood,” said Grace Brittle, Butch's daughter.

On Wednesday, there was already two inches of water inside the restaurant. Brittle said that it will take two weeks once the Skunk River goes down to clean up the restaurant and open it up again.

She's still getting calls from people asking if Butch's is open, however.

'We do lose a lot of money when we're closed. There's not much to do without the restaurant,” Brittle said. 'Maybe I'll fish. Maybe I'll watch the river rise, and watch it go back.”

All day long, Hesser and Brittle watched residents drive down Garth Avenue and park right at the water's edge.

Hesser said the cars parked down her street all day are annoying and a major inconvenience when the residents who live down by the river are trying to move their belongings. Brittle said the traffic got in the way of pulling out the semi loaded with all the restaurant's kitchen appliances.

Bob Swindell lives on a hill above the Skunk River. He and his wife Kathy Swindell came down to the riverbank on Wednesday out of curiosity and to see how they could help.

'My heart goes out to the people living out here,” Bob said. 'It's been this high before, higher than this, but it's been at least 10 years. I'm probably going to see if we can help Butch's out. It's a mess. It leaves a lot of mud and muck behind.”

Diana Miller recalled the last time the Skunk River flooded this badly - either in 2008 or the 1990s. She climbed into a boat and boated down the road to check on some people's cabins.

'It's been worse than this,” Miller said as she looked over the water. 'We've seen this a lot. I thought it would be higher even.”

Kay Stearns used to live down by the Skunk River. She remembers one bad year of flooding when she had fish in her basement.

'The smell was so bad,” Stearns said.

Jacob Bailey, 16, took the opportunity of the flooded river to practice bow fishing.

Bailey said he got his bow as a Christmas present this past year, and he's getting pretty good at fishing with it.

'It's just fun shooting a fish, and a little bit of a challenge too,” Bailey said.

The flooded Skunk River provides the perfect opportunity for bow fishing because fish bump up against rocks and other debris, making them easier to see and closer to the surface, Bailey said.

Cody Miller, of Keosauqua, was catching fish to supply for his cousin's turtle farm. Earlier in the day, he said they shot 30 to 40 fish in under 10 minutes.

'Fish shooting is really good when the river comes up like this,” Miller said. 'It's just a stress reliever and good sport.”