Volunteers lead livestock out of barns at the Louisa County Fairgrounds after flash flooding July 25.
By Anne Marie Amacher
The Catholic Messenger
Heavy rains battered the Louisa County Fairgrounds July 19 and again July 25, which led to the evacuation of livestock as floodwaters took over the grounds.
Kelli Totemeier of St. Joseph Parish in Columbus Junction said around 3 inches of rain fell July 19. Some flooding occurred on the fairgrounds and the fair board moved Sunday night events to the Columbus Secondary School gym. “The fair board worked very hard to get the fairgrounds ready for animals to arrive Monday night. All animals arrived Monday night and Tuesday morning as scheduled. And all the animal shows happened during the week on schedule.”
Then on July 25, 5 or more inches of rain fell, including 4 inches in about 45 minutes. Kelli and her husband Eric were getting ready to put on the 4-H Club Master Showman competition, which features four showmanship winners each for beef, swine, sheep and goats, and the Master Showman of the Louisa County Fair.
About 15 members were at the fairgrounds “to help orchestrate the show,” she said. With the grounds already soaked from rain the week before, the storm that dropped massive amounts of rain and runoff from the bluff above “became too much for the grounds. We quickly went from a dry show arena to ankle-deep water to knee-deep water.”
She said the goat barn flooded first “and was pretty deep. Goats were rescued to the swine barn, which was already flooding. The fair board was trying to evacuate people to the fire station but while many animals had been dismissed, all the auction animals were still on the grounds and many kids didn’t want to leave their animals.”
The Totemeiers, who raise cattle and row crops on their family farm, decided to evacuate the livestock to their farm since they live close by and had trucks and trailers available. “My husband made the call to go home and get them (the trailers) before the fair board had really decided what to do. By the time he was on his way back, the fair board had decided to get all animals off the grounds.”
With help from people still at the fairgrounds, volunteers loaded 15 head of cattle, 6 sheep, 3 goats and 10 pigs into the Totemeiers’ two trailers. Another trailer arrived to take in five more cattle. “We took everything to our house and people started contacting us about pick up. Most people came that night to pick up their animals but some we did deliver to their homes.”
Rabbits and poultry were evacuated to the Mark Cooley farm in Morning Sun as well. He serves the fair board as poultry superintendent, Kelli said.
Getting to and from the fairgrounds was challenging. “The hardest part was the roads were not visible on the fairgrounds and all the roads are surrounded by drainage ditches so navigating the roads and knowing where to drive was treacherous.”
“Many families were very grateful for us getting animals out. Some people were trying to get back to the fairgrounds but some Louisa County roads had water over them, making it harder for them to get back.”
The livestock auction was cancelled. She said the fair board put a premium auction online for those who had signed up for the original auction.
Kelli, a parish council member who also instructs in confirmation preparation and religious education, said her family didn’t hesitate to help. She and Eric have five children. “Honestly we just jumped in to do this as a family. So when the need was there, we just did what we needed to do.”
