May 23—Trigg Dhondt may not want to help his father with chores around the house, but the 7-year-old wasted no time lugging sandbags to help his hometown of Kellogg. Wearing soggy Crocs, muddy jeans and a spare Gatorade bottle in a side pocket, he and several volunteers helped stack the bags on pallets.
He didn’t know what to make of all the flooding or this reporter’s questions. He replied with a shrug and a smile, bouncing on the tips of his toes until I stopped talking to him long enough for him to lift some more sandbags. By 2 p.m., volunteers had processed 70 tons of sand, with more to come.
Trigg Dhondt, 7, of Kellogg carries a sandbag May 21 along with volunteers preparing for more flooding in the community. Kellogg was hit hard by flooding, with water reaching as far as the Country Store and overtaking Highway 224 and a housing project after a culvert became clogged.
Kellogg bore the brunt of the May 21 flooding, although virtually every community and unincorporated area in Jasper County was hit by heavy downpours that started the night before. And if that wasn’t enough, many of those same cities experienced wind damage later that evening.
Water had flowed from the North Skunk River onto Iowa Highway 224 early in the morning, according to the National Weather Service. The road leads directly into the town of Kellogg. Even as the waters receded and traffic was allowed off US Route 6, it looked like the highway could be swallowed up at any moment.
Calvin Dhondt, Trigg’s father and public works director and fire chief for the city of Kellogg, was called to assist with residents experiencing heavy early morning flooding at a housing project north of the city on Northfield Drive. Cellars were full of water. But by then the highway had been washed away.
“I couldn’t get all the way to where they were,” he said. “So that’s when I notified Jasper County Sheriff’s Office and told them I needed all the help I could get at that point. I notified EMA and we ended up calling in Grinnell Fire because they were the only ones who called them from could reach the north.”
From there, Calvin assessed the damage and the areas that needed the most help. He also checked the lift stations, which help pump out water. Kellogg ultimately lost one lift station and then prioritized sandbagging the main lift station. Crews were also able to plug wells and volunteers began filling sandbags.
The Iowa Department of Transportation provided high-powered pumps to Kellogg to help the sewer system combat rising water. The city was suddenly filled with ponds and lakes. Perhaps the most prominent flood-induced lake was in Holmdahl Park, which was completely submerged.
Shelters and the tops of climbing frames rose above the surface. Grinnell Fire operated boats to navigate the waters in the park and rescue a tanker that was floating in the water. Calvin, 35, has lived in Kellogg all his life and he said this flooding may be the worst he has ever seen in the city.
Denny Stevenson, county supervisor and longtime Kellogg firefighter, agreed, saying it was “just about the worst flooding” he had ever seen. Another similarly devastating flood, according to the 65-year-old, occurred in 1966. At the time, he recalled a propane company’s tanks being taken away by floodwaters.
“They’ve been picking those up everywhere for a long time,” Stevenson said. “We’ve had some flooding close by over the years, but I think this is the most. I don’t remember this ever happening on the highway. It seemed like it came as far as the Country Store.” That was it.” It’s not very deep, but it was there.”
In response to the flooding, the community of Kellogg and surrounding towns have stepped up to help. Some had sweated for hours filling sandbags. Stevenson said it is a reflection of the residents of Kellogg. Whether it’s a derecho, a flood or some other disaster, people want to help.
“When the derecho hit, they cleared everything in a few days,” Stevenson said. “Everyone and their brother were out with their chainsaws and trucks. Just like here (with the floods). Same answer. Now it’s just sandbagging what we can. If necessary, they step in.’
Volunteers collect sandbags for use in areas of Kellogg on May 21 after the city was hit by severe flooding, the waters of which completely covered Holmdahl Park, compromised a lift station and overflowed onto Iowa Highway 224, the road leading into the city leads. .
Jamey Robinson, director of Jasper County Emergency Management Agency (EMA), told Newton News that, other than Kellogg, the areas hardest hit by the flooding were Baxter and Colfax. Some were “barely left standing,” he said. And he means that literally.
“Sully and Lynnville are holding on, but it’s definitely not pretty,” Robinson said.
Robinson originally planned to go on vacation around the time the storm hit. But then his phone blew up around 6am with reports of widespread flooding. The emergency operations center was opened to coordinate response efforts. He also convinced the province to issue a disaster declaration.
The statement was issued the same morning and noted that numerous secondary roads, highways and main roads had been flooded, making travel difficult or even impossible for many commuters. The extensive saturation of infrastructure in areas also raised health and safety concerns.
Jasper County has even issued a travel advisory. Declaring a disaster so early gave the county the authority to mobilize emergency funds from all available resources, activate mutual aid agreements and seek assistance from the state of Iowa. EMA is now asking residents to complete property damage reports.
Forms can be completed by visiting the Jasper County EMA Facebook page or by visiting https://survey123.arcgis.com/share/f4c4f10102874f489cbd5d5ade8f7e5f.
“The state wants numbers and wants to know who has been affected,” Robinson said. “That could of course open the door for other assistance. I did apply for the individual assistance from the state yesterday, which was open… You can use that for food assistance, housing assistance, damage repair.”
Vehicles and a house in Lambs Grove were almost completely flooded on May 21. Several communities in Jasper County were affected by the flooding after a night of heavy rain and even more sporadic downpours the next day.
Flooding also occurred in Newton. Images of First Avenue near East 12th Street North show water flooding into the nearby Walgreens parking lot. Newton Fire Department Chief Jacob Halferty said numerous fire alarms had also gone off in the morning, indicating possible lightning strikes.
The Jasper County Courthouse in particular was struck by lightning, affecting all internet services in the building and even knocking out the elevator. Halferty said the lightning strikes tend to send systems into a frizzy mood. At 5 a.m., he and Fire Chief Jarrod Wellik checked road conditions.
“Within five minutes we probably had about 20 calls of vehicles stuck in water with people in them near various intersections around the city,” Halferty told Newton News. “Chief Wellik and I started it and then we had everyone who was working go to different areas.”
Halferty responded to a minivan filled with a large family and eight inches of water. The vehicle had stalled after flash floods hit the streets. Emergency vehicles acted as barricades along some flooded streets, but that still didn’t stop some people from going around and then getting stuck in deep water.
Homes throughout Newton also began filling with water. When residents got a reprieve from the nearly hour-long second wave of rain after 10 a.m., they fled to hardware stores and other stores like Theisen’s in search of pumps and hoses. They spoke to friends and colleagues about the damage.
“There’s five feet of water in my basement,” said one customer.
“Me, too.”
Halferty said firefighters received reports of water-filled basements that smelled of smoke. The water had reached the electrical outlets and fried them. First responders told residents that in some cases they had to turn off their electricity and gas. Trailer parks in the city also experienced heavy flooding.
“Newton did pretty well once the water was drained,” Haflerty said. “But it’s clear there’s still water in people’s basements and there’s still some sewerage that they have to deal with. Newton is doing pretty well considering what happened in Kellogg and Greenfield.”
