Despite Pet Evacuation Act No Emergency Shelters or Vets On Site

Chasing Iowa Floodwater

Notes from the field - Day 4, from video executive producer Laurel Anderson

A Best Friends team is on the ground in southeastern Iowa and will spend the next few days in rescuing animals caught in the flood.
Some of the team members include Best Friends Rapid Response manager Rich Crook and first responders Ethan Gurney and volunteer Barb Davis are working directly under the Iowa State Emergency Operations Center.

“Oakville is completely under water,” Rich says, “and we have confirmed reports of animals seen on rooftops, and animals seen on second-story balconies.”

Using addresses provided to Rich by the local sheriff identifying between 50 and 60 animals that residents say they left behind, the team will go in and retrieve them using a 14-foot, flat-bottomed boat.

The Iowa river is just a few yards from where the team staying in an RV parked in a church lot.

“We’re trying to get to where the flooding hit last,” Rich says. “The bulk of this water is beating up towns on its way. The closer we can get and still stay behind it, the better.”

A levee break along the Iowa River swamped Oakville, which has a reported population of 439. Earlier, driving to the area along the highway, they could see acres of crops still under water. “These aren’t just pockets of water,” Rich says. “They’re completely under water.”

In many areas along the route, the water had receded. But that was upstream. Downstream from Oakville, it’s another story.

National Guard officers are also on the ground. “The timing is perfect,” Rich says. “As of (Tuesday), they let people into the area.” Once the team was approved to go, plans were made to pull animals from the water first thing Wednesday.

“We’ll be on the river by sun-up,” Ethan says.

As for the town of Oakville, animal shelters in neighboring towns have agreed to take in pets and care for them until they’re reunited with their people.

“We’re all just raring to get going,” Ethan said the night before putting the boat in the water. “Just seeing it on TV and knowing there’s a need – I was chomping at the bit to help. Knowing they’re in that situation, we want to help them.”

Written by Cathy Scott