2 2010FLOODOF

EditorsHunter ToddGinny Roper

Savannah JohnsonAndrew LeganEmma Caylor

Photography EditorElizabeth Bumpas

Design EditorAndrew Legan

Business ManagerHunter Todd

Circulation ManagerSavannah Johnson

Reporters Shelby Andrews

Nic Berry Lauren Brooks

Elizabeth BumpasWalt Carter

Rachel Chaffin Logan CollierMaggie FeithZach GolsonJackson Lay

Aura Mae NorthcuttMcCord Pagan

Shelby Pleasant Tyler RobertsSam Shankle

Sean StapletonJacob Stegeman

Chris Wagner

AdvisorsAnna Claire Bradshaw

William BumpasAlex Jacobi

Jaylin GardnerKatie Taylor

Suzanne Edwards Nancy Speck

Trojan TorchDyersburg High School125 Hwy. 51 By-PassDyersburg, TN 38024

Trojan

Articles contributed by the following DHSstudentsKathleen AlfordShelby AndrewsCaitlin ArmstrongTodd BakerPatrick BarchBrandy BehrensJade BoxEden CookMatthew DailyJames Decker

Kayla DubruleMatt EavesCody EscueJessica FloydAndriota GormanCody GreyConnor HansfordSeth HinsonAnne Marie HymanSamantha Joergens

Savannah JohnsonSterling JowersChelsea KingAshten MaldanadoMaryanna McClureKaytelyn McKeeLoren NewsomDeanna PlewaSam ShankleJoesph Smith

Sydnee StaffordKatelynn SummersetAbbi TaborFinley WhiteJayne Anne WilkersonShaniqua WilliamsAlexis Wilson

Photos contributed by the students of Dyersburg High School and the residents of Dyersburg and Dyer County

32010FLOODOF

Sam Shankle

In the late hours of May 2 and the early hours of May 3, Dyersburgbegan to flood. The flood waters rapidly rose 7 feet in 6 hours. Thisrapid increase in water began to fill the flood plains of Dyer County.

The North and South Forks of the Forked Deer, Mississipi, and ObionRivers poured in to Dyer County. Although Dyersburg received verylittle rain, runoff from the counties of Gibson, Madison and Crockettcarried the enormous amount of water into Dyer County.

The Forked Deer River rose to 30.48 feet above sea level and the floodstage peaked at 22 feet. The water from this river flowed in to the NorthFork which wraps around the southern part of Dyersburg. The NorthFork was responsible for the flooding of Southtown. The Southtownflooding was devastating, but it showed the strength of the residentsfrom Dyersburg to the banks of the Mississipi River. The sand was

shipped from the Mississipi River and bagged by any willing volun-teers.

Dyersburg’s tragic flood was recently confirmed by the NationalWeather Service to be the worst ever. The new record of 31.21 inchestops even the Great Flood of 1937, which was recorded at 30.91 inches.The cost of damage in Dyer County alone are estimated at $12 million.Many believe that multiple levees broke although actually only breach-ing occurred. The Sorrells Chapel levee was breached and repairedquickly by CNN Railroad. The levee was repaired, but no new im-provements were made since very few improvements can be made onany areas that reside in a flood plain. The flood was a destructive forcethat brought out the best of people in the form of charity drives, vol-untary sand bagging and even a Global Youth Concert with all pro-ceeds benefiting the victims of the flood.

The Flood of 2010

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Todd Baker

The news says it was the worst flood in Dyersburg’s his-tory and the highest since 1937. I went around barri-caded S. Main St. to see Southtown. It started at

Lowry’s Body Shop then Boss Hoss, Dodges, Dairy Queenand Gus’s Chicken. All of Southtown was flooded and it keptrising. On Monday, May 3 at about 2 pm, 412 Highway wasclosed for the first time ever for water crossing it at two dif-ferent spots. I rushed home on Monday to get clothes andthings and came back to town, so I was not stuck at home. Iwas the last one they legally let through to go back to towndown 412. On Wednesday, I rode my four wheeler down 412and watched boats ride on normally dry fields that are now 6to 8 feet deep in water. This was unbelievable. The levee be-hind Cotton Villa broke on Tuesday, which endangered manyhouses. I helped move some people’s belongings in that area.On Tuesday morning, the police went door to door evacuatingSouthtown. Boats were running everywhere, some spectated,but mostly people were pulling together to help the victimssalvage what they could out of the flooded houses.

Jade Box

Ifirst heard about the flood on Monday when my two friends,Faith and Jessie, were looking for a way home because Highway412 was about to flood over. I didn’t believe the flood had gotten

that bad until that afternoon when I received a picture to my phone.The picture was the damage the flood had caused in Southtown.These days we had off were relaxing, but I still felt really bad aboutall the people’s houses that were destroyed by the flood. AfterWednesday church, my dad, my sister and I went to go see some ofthe flood. All the roads were blocked, but we still got to see a littlebit. Fields were now lakes, and to get to Southtown you now had touse a boat. I guess this is one disaster that will not be forgotten.

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Anonymous

The flood of 2010 brought out the best and theworst of people. Many people used the op-portunity to do all they could to help those

affected. On the other hand, some people haven’teven paid attention to what’s going on aroundthem. They haven’t seen the devastation so theydon’t have the feeling that it actually happened.Many people have been hurt by this incident, fromthose whose houses were damaged to those whowere trying to help those in need. A few people hada wreck in the process of helping pack sand. Also, afew people were trying to help out their friend getstuff out of his house, among things a bunny in acage on his floor. While he was trying to get to hishouse, the current got too strong and they had toturn back and couldn’t save his stuff.

Connor Hansford

Well, the first thing that came to my mind whenthey talked about the Forked Deer River flood-ing was the possibility of school being out. I

was so excited when it was announced that DyersburgCity Schools would not be in session Tuesday or Wednes-day. That changed when I got on the internet Tuesdaynight to check out some of the news about the flood situ-ation. When I read the article on the State Gazette websiteand saw the video of all the homes, businesses and achurch affected by the flood, it started to make me feelguilty for being excited for something that changed peo-ple’s lives in a negative way. Instead of being excitedabout not being in school, I started to pray more for theindividuals affected by this tragic event. Many of the peo-ple who were not affected by the flooding still probablydo not realize the gravity of the situation Dyer County isfacing. I just hope that everyone will come to realize whatis going on and do their best to help in any way they can.

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Kayla Dubrule

When I first heard about the flood, I did not take itseriously. I didn’t realize how bad it was until Igot a chance to see it first hand. We went in the

boat to Southtown to see the damage and volunteer anyhelp we could. It was devastating to see so many housesand businesses flooded. I personally was not affected bythe flood, but my heart goes out to the people who were.Like many people who weren’t affected, I was just glad tobe out of school. But after seeing the damage, you wonderhow can someone enjoy being out of school when we haveclassmates who have lost everything they own. It’s nice toknow that we live in such a loving community that is tryingto help. It was very encouraging driving downtown thisweek and seeing so many people sandbagging. I also thinkit’s a great idea that our school is taking up money andcanned goods for the flood victims. It is very important thatwe do all we can to help.

Anonymous

Inever thought something like this would ever happen soclose to home. Although my house was not affected, thisflood effected me emotionally. I am so grateful that the

water never reached our home, but I truly feel sorry for thepeople who lost everything. Once I heard and realized themagnitude of the evacuations in Dyersburg, I knew this wasthe biggest natural disaster that I had and probably will evergo through. I just cannot believe that people have lost every-thing. Our area is known for devastating tornadoes, but notfloods. As the rivers continue to rise and the waters continueto drain in our direction, this flood will continue to affect thelives of many people. Now is the time that our communityreally needs us, emotionally and physically. We all need toput ourselves in others’ shoes and help to put the pieces ofare community back together.

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Sydnee Stafford

Ifeel guilty and thankful at the same time. Is that evenpossible? I was not directly affected by the flooding;however, I did know people who were. Memorabilia,

precious valuables and old pictures are a few things that cannever be replaced again and so many people lost it all. Itbreaks your heart to wonder if those people will have aplace to lay their head down at night, while you are lyingin your bed. Yes, we can offer food, shelter, clothing andother resources, but these people’s lives have been changedforever. Even people who do not have homes in the floodedarea of Dyersburg have been affected. Many acres of farmsand big businesses, such as UPS and Budweiser, have beenseverely damaged. It has even affected people who com-mute from Dyersburg to Jackson every day for a job.

Now, take a step back and put yourself in their shoes.What would you do? How would you move on with yourlife? Everything you could not carry out with you would belost, gone forever. What would your reaction be? I know thatwould not go over too well for me. Volunteers have beenworking around the clock to aid flood victims and are doinga great job. It is times like these when communities pull to-gether and all become focused on the well being of others.It makes you proud to be from Dyersburg.

Eden Cook

On Monday, May 3, 2010, news of the massiveflooding in Dyersburg reached Dyersburg HighSchool. Many students were panicked to find out

whether or not they would be able to get home that af-ternoon—or if they made it home, would they have toevacuate? I, on the other hand, went home and helpedmy mom in the yard. I did not sandbag entranceways tohouses or help people pack up valuables. In fact, I dug ahole for my mom and put a big rock in it, for she wantsto make stepping-stones up my sloping backyard.

On Tuesday, May 4, 2010, school was cancelled. Manyhouses and other families suffered through the flooding.I was able to sleep late and watch TV. As smart as itwould have been for me to work on a belated project inBusiness Law, I, instead, sat around eating ice cream.

On Wednesday, May 5, 2010 school was once again can-celled. Another levee broke, volunteers continued theircampaign, and I lazily basked in the sun after waking upwell-rested again.

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Loren Newsom

It is sad to see people treat a disaster like a party. Tuesday afternoon, my family and I drove down Highway 51 to see the destruction. As weneared the disaster area, I was shocked with what was only the beginning. There were families standing outside their homes crying andpraying for help. All the devastation made me feel bad for everyone who was affected by the flooding. But suddenly, as we neared South-

town, my emotions started to change. Fat, redneck idiots were driving around in their johnboats drinking beer. That’s just pathetic. It really[ticked] me off. They should have been down the street helping with sandbags; they could really use the exercise. Near the Budweiser plant,an idiot sat in the nasty (possibly toxic) water bathing himself; just trying to get on TV. Leave it to the scum of society to try and make a personalgain off this accident. People were parking their cars down by Southtown so they could claim flood insurance on them. Some people are so pa-thetic.

Kathleen AlfordWater rises all around,A deep and dark and dirty brown,The rivers have all jumped their banks,The forests have all broken ranks,The creatures flee to higher ground,As water rises all around.

Water rises all around, With a quiet, deadly rushing sound,Cars abandoned, homes stripped bare,It seems their owners no longer care,They also flee to higher ground, As water rises all around.

Water rises all around, Seeking ever higher ground,Taking, eating, ever feeding,It doesn’t care who it sends reeling,It reaches to ever higher ground, Rising, rising, all around.

Water rises all around, A deep and dark and dirty brown,With a quiet, deadly rushing sound,Seeking ever higher ground,Rising, rising, all around,Water rises all around.

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Savannah Johnson

We are lucky. This statement comes to my mind first because it was spoken numerous times between my parents and me. Althoughour backyard looks like a newly formed lake and we had to relocate our golden retriever, Chief, for a few days, the waters neverreached our house. However, this is not true for our entire neighborhood. A few streets over, families were evacuated and are suffering

from flood waters reaching their homes.I was so thankful for all of the people who offered to help our family if the waters continued to rise. People we knew and strangers as

well showed up at our house asking if we needed assistance or sandbags. Even though our house was fine, knowing that so many people caredwas reassuring.

When our family was certain that our house was in the clear, I knew I wanted to help the families who were not as lucky as mine.Downtown a group of volunteers were making sandbags to help prevent the quickly rising waters from reaching people’s homes. Although Icould not lift the bags, I plugged into the group by simply tying the bags after they had been filled with the sand. The best part about helpingwith a group of volunteers is that everyone wants to be there. Everyone is positive and willing to do whatever needs to be done. I interactedwith so many kind people, and I met a lot of new people from the area. I have a whole new understanding of what a community is, and whatmust be done to help each other.

On Tuesday, my friends and I went back to the sandbag making. It was very hot, but the Fire Department provided water bottles andchips for the volunteers. At lunch, we were fed barbecue by a group from the community. It was great to see so many different groups ofpeople come together as one.

The flood definitely hurt Dyersburg, but in a way, it also brought a community together like never before. Global Youth put on theBenefit Concert for flood victims, and it let the youth of our community use their talents to help. It was a beautiful thing to be a part of. Thereis a thread of hope sewn through everyone who was affected. The recovery will be long, but Dyersburg has already proven that we can cometogether and overcome. I have faith in this community.

The rain startsThe lightning flashesThe thunder roarsThe water rises.

The creeks fillThe streams riseThe rivers swellNowhere to hide.

The creeks overflowThe levees overtopThe roads are overwashedThe rain doesn’t stop.

The floods recedeThe devastation reveals Nothing remains.

Poem by James Decker

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Brandy Behrens

After sandbagging, we had a flood party.We sat on a friend’s front yard in CottonVilla with lawn chairs set up, and a gi-

gantic cooler filled with beer and sodas. We hada grill set up and had a good time. Sightseers thatdrove by gave us dirty looks, but we didn’t care.

Samantha Joergens

Friday, April 30th was the start of the severe storms. I stayed upevery night that weekend watching the weather channel. Thestorms pounded us with heavy amounts of rain and wind. Sun-

day, May 2nd was the final day for the storms. We were left with theworst flood in Dyer County in history. I didn’t think it was that badbecause we’ve always had flood warnings in the past, and we cameout perfectly fine. This time was much different.

I woke up on Monday morning and went to school as normal. I tookmy normal route through Southtown as usual and noticed the sidestreets were a little flooded. I didn’t think much about it since we didreceive a lot of rain that weekend. When I got to school, first hour wasa normal class and no one talked about the rain. When I got to secondhour at the Intermediate School, they got a call saying Southtown wasbeing evacuated. I thought that was sad and a bit weird since I drove

through there only an hour before. The severity of the flood still hadn’thit me until I went to 5th hour where Mrs. Houston showed us a pic-ture on an e-mail she had. It was of Dairy Queen. The building wasunderwater almost to the roof. I then became a little scared. I checkedmy phone, and I had a text message from my mom saying the McDow-ell center was being evacuated because of the flood. I was terrified thenbecause that was my only other way home. So, I thought of how Icould go home, and I remembered I could take Highway 412 home.The bad news for me was that 412 was closed. I then went outside andcalled my mom to ask her what I should do. She told me to leave, takemy sister and take the by-pass before it closed. We headed home be-cause the by-pass was clear. We got home safe and sound, and ourhouse was untouched. We were one of the fortunate families in Dyers-burg. For others, their worst nightmare had come alive.

112010FLOODOF

Jessica Floyd

Ileft on Friday for New York City, just for a weekend tripwith my family. While we were gone, all that anyone athome would talk about was the rain and flooding. We

checked it out on Facebook and looked at our friends’ pic-tures and comments. We began to worry about getting homein time for Monday morning school and work because wewere flying back into Memphis, and had to drive from Mem-phis back to Dyersburg. From what we had heard, Dyersburghad been blessed by having only a lot of rain, but no severeflooding like the surrounding counties. So, we were not tooworried. We arrived safely, on time, and without any prob-lems; however, Monday was a different story.

I was in a rush on Monday morning to get to school, and Ileft at the last minute possible. I usually take Beaver Road,get on 412, and then head into town, but when I turned offmy road and onto Beaver Road, I saw a “ROAD CLOSED”sign. Nevertheless, being the defiant, adventurous person Iam, I went anyway, thinking it was just a sign someone putup over the weekend and forgot to take down. So, I keptgoing. I got to the top of the hill, stopped, and looked overjust in time to keep myself from driving into a newly formedlake. I turned around and made it to school in time, but withnone to spare.

We were dismissed from school about fifteen minutes earlythat day because of the flooding. I drove home and didn’t seeany flooding, but I had heard all about it. I checked out thearea that I tried to drive through that morning. The water wasall the way up the pole of the “STOP” sign. All of BeaverRoad had become a lake, and the water was rising furtherand further up my road. Houses were being invaded withwater, the air smelled like fish, and there were ducks roamingthe roads and yards.

Matt Eaves

Iwas in the flood, and it was a very bad experi-ence. It came so fast and so unexpectedly. I got aknock at my door saying we had to leave our

home due to flooding. There were a bunch of peopleneeding help. Families lost everything they haveever owned due to flood water. Just seeing yourfriends and family go through that is devastating.

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Sterling Jowers

River water ravaged through neighbor-hoods on all borders surrounding Dy-ersburg this past week. Aside from

the multi-million dollars’ worth of damage,the flood aided a single event-unification.Aid started by giving victims basic necessi-ties, and these needs are the only aspect oflife each individual, worldwide, has in com-mon. And because of the generosity of thepeople, the flood created a common tiethroughout the area - a sense of Community.

Jayne Anne Wilkerson

I think it is crazy how the flood is sepa-rated. Like, I live on one side of my neigh-borhood. It is hard to fathom that just three

blocks away from me the flood is really there.A friend and I sat outside the house with an-other friend who lives on River Ridge (a fewblocks from my house), and watched thewater move closer and closer to his house. Wecould see that on the next street over, a fam-ily’s house had already been flooded, and theywere moving as quick as they could to movetheir most prized possessions out of danger.We were all amazed at how many volunteersfrom around the community were willing tohelp put up sandbags in people’s yards. Iwork downtown at my granddad’s law office.We were all talking about how strange it wasthat just down the street, Dairy Queen wasflooded up to the roof, and we had no sign ofwater at the office. (You couldn’t see the waterfrom the office or anything.) It just blows mymind to think that it is just right there, but Ican’t see it. As curious as I am to see it, I amabiding by my mother’s words to not get closeto it. An older man at church made a commentabout how people’s houses and belongingscould be replaced, but I just sat and thoughtabout how these are people’s homes gettingdestroyed. You cannot just rebuild your homeagain: that takes years and years. As awful asthe flood is, I love to see the sun set on thesparkling water. Also, the flood has broughtpeople closer together. My house has gottenmany calls from people around the commu-nity asking if we are okay and if we needed aplace to take our things or stay. It is so nice tobe reminded of how you have so many peoplethat care about your family. All I can thinkabout this flood is to make lemonade out oflemons.

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Chelsea King

The flood that our city is experiencing rightnow is the worst thing I have seen in my life.This flood has affected so many people from

Southtown to Cotton Villa, and no matter whereyour house is, everyone is affected. This flood has es-pecially affected my family because of my aunt. Shelives less than a mile away from Dodges, and onMonday she had less than three hours to collect allof her things. When she finally left, the water was upto her first step leading to her porch. On Tuesday shereceived the news that the water was in her houseand by Wednesday the water was halfway up thewindows. To make matters worse, everyone in hercommunity got the news that the flood insuranceonly covered the house, and not the contents. Thiswas the last thing she wanted to hear.

The flood also hit home with the farmers. Some ofthe farmers in our community had their farmland ei-

ther near Southtown, Finley or Evansville. The farm-ers had begun to plow the land for their crops, andsome had already planted their crops. These cropsare their main income, and for some of them, theyhave put their life savings into it. The farmers willhave to start all over when it eventually dries out,and many of them do not have the money to do so.

This flood has also affected the animals. Many peo-ple got out of their houses with just the clothes ontheir backs. Now all of their family pets have eitherhad to be be rescued or sadly did not make it out.This especially makes me sick to my stomach be-cause of my love of animals, but I do understand try-ing to save yourself and your family first.

I hope that this tragedy will bring this town andcommunity together, not only for canned food drivesand giving money, but also for simple love and sup-port.

Shelby Hubbard

It all started with vicious storms. Little did Dyersburg know thatour small town was going to undergo an unfortunate situation.The effect of the flood hit Monday afternoon. Everyone around

me that day was very unaware of what was going on. The studentswere let out early. We all were so ecstatic about getting out. I wentto Sonic with some friends, and then I went to play soccer. As myfriends and I were careless playing around, we got some news.School would be out tomorrow – more excitement. It all was a bigjoke to me. I asked myself, seriously? There is nothing remotely un-usual around me. My thoughts were interrupted. I suddenly saw mymom pull up. I walked over to the car, something was wrong. I hadan uneasy feeling in my gut. My mom immediately drove me home.She wanted everyone to be together. I live in the Cotton Villa areaof Dyersburg. The damage I saw was shocking. My backyard washalf way flooded, but that wasn’t the main damage. The main dam-

age had occurred to my neighbors. Their house was obviouslyflooded by what we observed. When I had seen enough I went in-side. I logged onto Facebook to see that someone posted a video ofthe flood. I viewed the video and saw that Dairy Queen was ruined.Dyersburg’s Southtown seemed to have disappeared. I hope andprayed that everything would get better the next day. Unfortunately,things were slightly worse when I woke up. The water in my back-yard barely rose; however, it rose immensely in my neighbor’s yards.My family didn’t let this get us down. We acted as if the flood wasnot there. We stayed productive and looked for positive things wegot from the flood, such as: a couple days to rest and be together;and we got to see our whole community come together to help oneanother. Tuesday and Wednesday passed quickly, and Thursdaymorning the water began receding. I was enabled to see my townagain, and I had never felt so privileged to be able to do this.

14 2010FLOODOF

Shelby Andrews

The past few days have been crazy. Monday, everyone came to school hearing aboutfloods in places like Nashville and Tipton county. By the end of the day, we heard thatSouthtown was flooding...fast. The first time I heard about Southtown, I heard Dairy

Queen was flooding, and a few hours later, all that was left was the roof. Now everyone I talkto is craving a Blizzard. We ended up getting out of school 20 minutes early for “being verycooperative today.” Once we got out, we had softball practice for about 30 minutes with atotal of 8 people. We kept hearing Sydney McNeill’s neighborhood was about to go under androde over to make sure everything was okay. Alyssa Wells’s house had water in the backyard.She was the only one on her street with flood insurance. People down the street from her wereunder water, and it was surrounding her house. We were out of school for two days; however,we had a softball game Tuesday against Halls. Our catcher, Shawna Weed, couldn’t get thereso we had to play without her. After the game, the team decided to go bag sand because theriver was still rising and a second levee had broken. We were at school today and from whatI hear, most students came. One reason might be to get away from all the tragedies and emo-tions they have experienced in the last few days. We are hearing that this flood is the flood ofthe century, even bigger than in 1937. The Nashville flood is said to be a flood of 1,000 years.Supposedly they’ve had 17 inches of rain. World Color is shutting down, so several peopleare losing jobs as well as their houses. This is really going to and has brought our communitytogether. We always see these floods on the news, but it’s never been us before so this is sosurreal. It’s scary and sad.

Joseph Smith

The flood of 2010 was an enigma to this community.It seemed to creep up on us without any warning.By Monday morning, we were all cornered. In the

evening, we had become prisoners of its merciless terror.However, a decision was quickly made to revolt; we hadno other choice. After days of war, (emotional more thanphysical) we gained momentum. Before long, it was over!We showed it the door and said, “Get outta here!” A blind-ing revolution.

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Deanna Plewa

During school Monday, I was shown a few videos and pictures of Southtown inDyersburg. The sight was unreal. I almost thought they were from a previousflood years ago. This is the type of thing that you see on the news but never be-

lieve it could ever happen to you. My first account of the flood happened after school wasreleased early on Monday. Instead of going to the park as planned, my mother called andtold me to come look at the field across from my road that was halfway flooded. My momwas freaking out. I really wasn’t sure exactly how close the water was going to come tomy house so I packed up my laptop and was on my way. After a few calls to 311, it wasdiscovered that my street should be fine, but the few hours in suspense were terrible.Every 10 minutes, the water in the field was moving closer and closer to my street. Weweren’t sure what was to come. Since my house had been clear, we continued our livesnot knowing the terrible situation in other areas of Dyersburg. The pictures and videothat flooded my Facebook wall were not enough to make me realize the extent of theflood. It wasn't until Tuesday afternoon that my mom told me to drive down 51 towardsMemphis to see how bad Southtown had gotten. It hit me as we were driving because Isaw many people loading into boats to get to flooded houses. It was horrible. I would saythe thing that relieved me the most was the helpful effort of many people. A friend ofmine whose backyard is in nine feet of water said that Boy Scout troops drove up anddown the roads seeing if anyone needed help. Dyersburg really stepped up in the effortto help their fellow citizens.

Shanicqua WilliamsThe water that flows,The water that washes away my belongingsOnto its shore.The water with bacteriaThat kills those among the innocent people.The wind that blows,The water that flows,The tears that flow all downMy weary face.

Those that go,Those that know,That you’ll never come out aliveFrom this flood so muddy, so wet.

A disaster waiting to happen.The doubts of families lost,The injuries,The killings.Why must this disaster go on?

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Anonymous

Dyersburg, Tennessee is not invinci-ble. The flood of 2010 has openedmy eyes to realize that fact. On

Monday, I heard rumors of flooding start-ing to occur. Well, I thought they were onlyrumors. I hoped they were only rumors.Monday night at about 11:30 p.m. mybrother asked my mom if I could drive usto go see the waters. She let us, but I wishI wouldn’t have. I couldn’t sleep that nightbecause I was so devastated at what all wehad seen. It didn’t seem real. How cansomething like this happen to my home-town and destroy the homes and busi-nesses that it did? Why us? Why innocentpeople? It didn’t make any sense to meand it still doesn’t. I was determined to dowhat I could to help. I got up on Tuesdaymorning and I immediately went throughmy closet and our house and got clothes,

food and ended up with ten full bags. Itook them to Matthew 25:40 and felt Ineeded to do more. I saw a bunch of vehi-cles and people by the fire departmentdowntown. I realized they were loadingsandbags on trucks and trailers and takingthem off, so that’s where I went and stayedfor the majority of the day. That is alsowhere I realized how many people aretruly willing to do what it takes to help.There were so many people helping, evenpeople from out of town. I went home thatnight but still didn’t sleep too well. I knewthere had to be more that I could do. I wentback to Southtown on Wednesday andstopped at a motel that had many peopleoutside. I went up to a woman who washolding a three-month old baby. I askedher if there was anything she needed, andshe simply looked up to me and cried.Through her tears, all I could make of what

she was saying was that she had just losteverything. She now has nothing. She hadstayed at a shelter the night before, but hermom brought them back to the flood siteto see if they could get anything from herhouse. I didn’t have much money on me.What I did have, I gave to her. I have neverwitnessed a tragedy like this in my life. Itmakes me feel guilty when I think I needsomething. I have plenty at my housewhen others do not even have a home togo to right now. I still am not satisfied withmy helping. All I can think about is doingmore. Right now is the time for my gener-ation to step up and show our communitythat we care. This is a disaster, no doubt.With our community and the help of oth-ers, we will rebuild it and make those fam-ilies and businesses have a home again.

Abbi Tabor

No one ever thought anything like this would hap-pen to Dyersburg. When you think about naturaldisasters, you don’t think about small towns

being affected. When Dyersburg was hit, all the towncame together and helped out as much as they could.When I went over to Alyssa Wells’ neighborhood, I sawthe most incredible thing. This neighborhood was beingevacuated and I saw the whole neighborhood working to-gether to get everyone moved out. Churches had people,friends and family all come out to help. In Alyssa’s neigh-bor there was a single mom with two kids and no floodinsurance. She had had flood insurance for 20 years andthe one year she didn’t have it, this flood came. She hadalready lived through Katrina and it ruined her last home.She didn’t know what she was going to do. I was standingoutside in the driveway and I saw truck after truck comeby. This lady worked at Ford and her co-workers broughtlots of new trucks to help her move all of her stuff out ofher house. Seeing all these people coming together was avery moving sight. As I was walking down the road, I feltlike I was in a movie. It felt so surreal. You always see thiskind of stuff on the news, but you never really think abouthow bad it is. It was like everything was in slow motionand it just made me feel like I needed to help.

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Kaytelyn McKee

The flood was very tragic. I have a friend that lost everything hehad when it began to flood in Southtown. He lost his things inorder to help his grandmother. At the church I attend, Southside

Baptist, the pastor went to her house and tried moving things upstairs.There was no saving the first floor of the church. The past two days thatschool was out, I was worried every second. I wanted to do everythingI could to help the people that had lost everything

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Brandy Behrens

Ihave friends in Cotton Villa, so my boyfriend, his familyand I went to help sandbag. We loaded up in a truck andwent to pick up sand. It was a sight to see. There were

about 30 people filling up sandbags and loading them. Weloaded 100 sandbags to take to Cotton Villa at a time. Theextra weight in the back of the truck pushed the bed so fardown that there was only about an inch clearance betweenthe wheel and the fender. I never in my life thought sandbagscould weigh so much. Every muscle in my body was sore.There were lots of sad stories. I met an elderly couple in Cot-ton Villa. The man had a nerve problem and could barelywalk, and the woman was very upset. She said she had manyantiques that would be ruined. Also, the man had just gottena motorized chair that was stuck in his house. The womantold us that both of her sons lived in Nashville, and she hadno help. She was so happy after we sandbagged that shetried to pay everyone $100 a piece, but no one would takeher money. Later I saw some aerial coverage and her housegot about two feet of water. Sandbagging is hard work, andI now understand how devastating a flood can be.

Matthew Daily

Idon’t know anyone personally that was affected bythe flood, but I saw a lot of damage the flood wa-ters caused. Monday right after school, my father

and I did our job with the Humane Society to go rescueanimals from the flood. While we were over theresearching for animals, I saw first hand the damage thewater had caused to many of the houses. Not only didthe people lose all of their stuff, so did the rescued an-imals. It was very heart breaking to see all of the dam-age that was done.

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Finley White

The flood of 2010 hasaffected so manypeople in our area in

West Tennessee. Even peo-ple whose homes are farfrom the danger of thewater have seen the effectsfirst hand. One of myfriends told me about whenthey saw a husband andwife getting groceries. Thetwo of them loaded up intoa 10-foot boat with onepaddle. He dropped hiswife off at the “shore” soshe could get groceries, andhe came back to pick her upwhen she was finished.Then he paddled both ofthem and the load of gro-ceries back home. Anotherstory came from DyersburgPrimary School. My mom

was in the office when amother came rushing in,choking back tears.Through her sobs she saidshe needed to check herchild out. She told thewomen in the office whathappened. A few weeksago, she borrowed $4000from the bank in order toredo the floors in her home.Very soon after the workwas done, the water camerolling in. She has no insur-ance or money to fix thedamage done to her homeby the muddy water. Peo-ple are saying this floodwill be the end of manypeople’s savings and busi-nesses because they willhave to spend what theyhave earned just to get backon their feet.

Andriota Gorman

My weekend was very scary. I was in Nashville, Tennessee, when it firstflooded. It rained for almost three days straight. I remember Saturdaywhen it really started flooding: the highways had cars covered with

water, and I saw one long building floating down the highway. Then it juststarted to crumble up. There were all kinds of houses floating around and peopletrying to get out of houses into a boat. There were also police in trees trying toget away from the water. Since the highways were flooded, we had to take theback roads to get back to Dyersburg.

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Anonymous

The flood of 2010 is a heartbreaking event,but it has shown the caring side of the citi-zens in the area. As the flood waters rose,

people were bagging sandbags, getting out theirboats and moving valuables out of houses thatwere soon to be consumed by the flood waters.Over 400 homes were affected, which leaves over400 families in loss and devastation. My house wasnot affected by the flood, and it is almost impossi-ble to imagine the damage that is done. It is unrealto see Dyersburg on the news and to see thefootage and live broadcasting that pops up. Itbreaks my heart to know that people are out oftheir house or don’t have jobs because of the dam-age from the flood. I know many teenagers wereout trying to help, which proves that we care aboutother people and our community. A few werehelping pack sand and, as they were driving,someone pulled out in front of them. The truckflipped three times. All were okay, but the personwho caused it did not even stop to check on them.Most people trying to help have bad things hap-pen to them, but they keep going. God works incrazy ways, but you just have to go with the flowbecause He knows what is happening.

Patrick Barch

Some of my sister’s friends had to stay the night with her because theycouldn’t get home. Then, I had to check on one of my friends becauseI knew he lived in Friendship and was worried about him. After that,

I heard school got cancelled for Tuesday. Then, come to find out, my otherfriend’s house was just about completely underwater. My parents’ friendshouse was also underwater and the only thing they have now is their clothesand their car. Next, I heard school was cancelled for Wednesday. But beforeI heard school got cancelled for Wednesday, some friends of my sister got ina car accident.

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Alexis Wilson

Over our “break” I’ve seen the horrible footage from houses halfway or com-pletely flooded. People are having to leave their homes. When I saw DairyQueen under water, I wanted to cry. I wish I could’ve helped, but I was stuck

at home. My sister, brother and their mom were out helping the police with sandbagsthe whole time. I went down my street and saw fields that could’ve been mistakenfor lakes. You never think it will happen to you til’ it does. I’ve seen friends’ housesthat I could swim in. All of it was horrible. I’m so glad it didn’t happen to me. I wishit hadn’t happened to anyone!

Katelynn Summerset

Ibelieve this flood has brought Dyer County closer together. Many people havelost everything, but this community has lent a helping hand and still continues tohelp. People are donating money, clothes and food. They are also bringing their

boats to help the families salvage what they can. I don’t think Dyersburg was pre-pared for what happened, but our reaction has touched many lives. Even throughthe aftermath, this community will join together to help Dyersburg get back up andrunning.

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Cody Gray

We were all sitting in class when the principal walked in the classroom and asked wholived in the county. I raised my hand, and he told me to check out and go home.When I asked him why, he told me the water was rising close to a foot an hour,

which is really fast. When I was driving home, I saw the water rising about to cross the Evans-ville bridge. So I hurried on home. When I got there, I could see a little water, so I went downto look at it. I parked about fifty feet from it, and it got under me. But it didn’t get to my house,so I am thankful.

Anne Marie Hyman

Although I was not directly affected by the flood, it has made a major impact on me. Ifeel guilty about the whole situation. I live way out in Newbern where there are nobodies of water close by. As I began to hear about the flooding and people being evac-

uated from their homes, I knew we were safe. I then began to think about all the people whohad been told to prepare to evacuate and the stress and worry they must be under. I felt guiltyfor feeling safe and worry-free. I now wish there was more I could do for every person affectedby the floods. I know things may eventually go back to how they were, but life experiencesdon’t go away. These people won’t forget the loss and sadness caused by the flood. Also, a partof our town will never be the same. Southtown is going to end up torn down because of thewater that has been standing inside its buildings for so long. It has already been three days,and water levels aren’t going down yet. Many people will be without a home for weeks tocome. I will do whatever I can to help out.

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Ashten Maldonado

Inever knew water could do so much damage to a small town,and I never expected it to happen to Dyersburg. It upset mewhen everyone was so excited that we were let out, but didn’t

realize that half our town was underwater. I was in shock drivingby Evansville on my way home Monday afternoon. I didn’t knowthat much water existed! As I drove by families were rushingtheir valuable items out of their homes and being forced to leave.I felt guilty because I only lived two miles away and my housewas fine.

The following day, Tuesday, the road was blocked off and waterwas still rising. I felt bad turning around, but I had to get to mysoftball game. As soon as I walked into the dugout we immedi-ately started talking about the flood. As a team we decided tohelp. After our game ended we all rode over to the fire depart-ment to put sand in bags. Once we arrived it was too late, but westill had to do something. So, we volunteered to load the bagsinto the trucks. It wasn’t much, but I was glad I actually helpedand did something good for our community.

Seth Hinson

The Flood of 2010 destroyed ThePlaza Food Center. My grandfa-ther, Van Hinson, and my dad,

Kenny Hinson, owned The Plaza. Theyhad been working there for the last 44years. It was not only a grocery store, butit was a place where anyone could go ifthey needed help. My grandfather anddad are great people. They would helppeople out by buying or giving them sup-plies that they needed, but that stoppedthe day the flood hit. The flood hurt morethan my grandfather’s and dad’s busi-ness. It hurt all the people who neededassistance with everyday goods such asfood and drinks. There is no other gro-cery store that will help out people theway in which The Plaza did.

Anonymous

The flood of 2010 brought out the best and the worst of people.Many people used the opportunity to do all they could tohelp those affected. On the other hand, some people haven’t

even paid attention to what’s going on around them. They haven’tseen the devastation, so they don’t have the feeling that it actuallyhappened. Many people have been hurt by this incident, from thosewhose houses were damaged to those who were trying to helpthose in need. A few people had a wreck in the process of helpingpack sand. Also, a few people were trying to help their friend getstuff out of his house, and the current got too strong, and they hadto turn back around and couldn’t save his stuff.

Want to help?

Dyer County DisasterRelief Service

120McGaughey St. E Dyersburg, TN

Phone: (731)285-3155 or(731)286-2722

213 West Cedar St. Dyersburg, TN

Phone: (731)285-0726dyersburgmission.com

Dyer County Union Mission

The Salvation Army328 Mill Ave. S Dyersburg, TN

Phone: (731)286-5117