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State Library of Iowa

Katherine Johnson and Liz Johnson interview about the Midwest floods of June 2008, The University of Iowa Main Library, Iowa City, Iowa, October 2, 2008

Katherine Johnson and Liz Johnson interview about the Midwest floods of June 2008, The University of Iowa Main Library, Iowa City, Iowa, October 2, 2008

Title

Katherine Johnson and Liz Johnson interview about the Midwest floods of June 2008, The University of Iowa Main Library, Iowa City, Iowa, October 2, 2008

Description

Interview with sisters Katherine Johnson (22) of Cedar Rapids, Iowa and Liz Johnson (27) of Omaha, Nebraska.
Liz (age 27) and Kate (age 22) talk about the apartment they lost in the Iowa River flood in June 2008. They were given just one hour to evacuate, and lost most of their belongings and their home.
First night of the flood - noisy machinery, stress, making a plan. Liz sent home from work early (00:00:48) -- Came home and saw people packing - being evacuated. Trying to pack up the cats, pack up belongings. Katherine wasn't home, Liz had to decide what to bring for her. Katherine was in class (00:03:10) -- Went to their grandparent's house - feeling powerless. Out of their houses for two weeks (00:07:02) -- Twenty inches of moldy water. Shelves caved in under the weight of swollen books (00:08:05) -- Feeling childish - "It's just stuff" (00:09:55) -- Listening to the radio - running on a generator. Going to WalMart (00:11:26) -- The flood made them impulsive, trying to stay less stressed. Emotionally exhausting (00:13:45) -- Watching the local news, looking for their building (00:16:50) -- Let the local news look into their apartment, opening the refrigerator for them (00:18:50) -- Weren't expecting it - didn't know they were at risk. The week leading up to floods (00:22:45) -- Changes in their personalities and their cats. Being angry at each other instead of the flood (00:25:04) -- Sandbagging the day after the evacuation - reminded them that it was hopeless and chaotic (00:30:00) -- Katherine worked in the library, couldn't go back there either. Cedar Rapids library flooded (00:31:40) -- Reactions from others - people making light of it. Finding others who are going through the same things (00:33:07) -- Remembering their old apartment (00:35:20) -- National news coverage leaving Iowa floods - Tim Russert's death took attention away (00:37:30) -- Thanking each other (00:38:30)

Creator

Johnson, Katherine; Johnson, Liz

Publisher

StoryCorps (Project); University of Iowa. Libraries. Digital Research & Publishing

Date

2008-10-02
2008-10-02

Rights

Educational use only, no other permissions given. U.S. and international copyright laws may protect this item. Commercial use or distribution of this digital object is not permitted without written permission of the copyright holder.

Relation

Iowa City Flood
Flood Oral Histories

Format

mpeg
00:39:12

Language

English

Type

Sound
Oral histories (Document genres)

Identifier

DDA000509.mp3
https://digital.lib.uiowa.edu/

Collection