AT 84 YEARS OLD BESSIE DUGENA LOOSES HER HOME AND BUSINESS

On Friday, June 13, 2008, Bessie Dugena was evacuated from her home with only the clothes on her back.  There was no time ... the Police told her the flood waters were rising and she needed to get out now.  The flood waters did come – 35 feet above flood level.  The waters covered her business and filled the main floor of her home to within 8 inches of the ceiling.  Her other home was totally under water and totally destroyed.  She may be able to rebuild if the City of Cedar Rapids decide not to build a levee in the area.  We are uncertain of the fate of her home or business as of yet.  Either way Bessie, 84 years old, is homeless and unemployed.

Marianne and I went to Cedar Rapids from June 28 to July 3, 2008 to help her mother Bessie Dugena clean up her homes and business.  It was worst than I expected when we arrived.  The smell was horrible.  We began by cleaning out her garage – what a mess.  Everything was soaked with stinky mud.  The house was cleaned out thanks to  volunteers.

Click here for Photo Journal of our visit.
(Please Note: There are over 300 photos on these pages. It may take time for your computer to load some of the pages.)

It is sad to see 84 years of memories thrown away.  They are gone forever.

The worst clean up was her store (The Czech Village Shirt Shop).  All of her records were kept on paper – no electronic backup.  We packed up what we could find in the soggy mess in plastic bins.  Bessie will have to try to separate the pages and hopefully make some sense out of it.

The Gazette published an excellent article on Sunday, June 29, 2008 on Bessie.  Follow the link to the Gazette and read the e-Edition (this is past issues of the Gazette) http://www.gazetteonline.com/ .

If you want more information or would like to donate something to help Bessie, call (312) 523-5087 or e-mail Marianne at Marianne@danceaholics.com.

It’s funny in a way what people do in order to bring a semblance of order to their life’s in times of disaster like this.  One day when we were returning to the Czech Village to continue work on Bessie’s business, we saw a man sitting on the porch of his home (surrounded by his destroyed belongings) reading the Gazette as if nothing was out of the norm.  On another day, we saw a lady mowing her lawn.  Unbelievable what we do to bring semblance of order back into our lives.  Marianne even fell into this.  One day while we were tearing out the furnace and ripping off the paneling on the walls, I caught her sweeping the sidewalk in front of the store.  It’s how we cope!!!!

By:
Mike Benzmiller
Chicago, Illinois
(webmaster for Danceaholics and Marianne’s friend)

The links below open in the frame at the bottom of the page.  If you wish to have them open in a new window, right click the link and select "new window".

Aerial view of Cedar Rapids flood from hotel roof

Aerial tour of flooding in Eastern Iowa

The Gazette (Sunday, June 29, 2008) Page a01 in pdf format

The Gazette (Sunday, June 29, 2008) Page a07 in pdf format

57 House by Shop