Please pray for my Midwest folks

Rain, storms and tornadoes will not seem to stop in the Midwest. And I know it must be awful if I'm hearing about it in Japan.

Every day I listen to NPR on my AFN radio for the latest American news. Usually the stories recap the business stories or political news of the USA. But lately, more and more I'm hearing the voices of my homeland describing a flood that may be worse than the floods of 1993. The flooding in Gays Mills, Wisconsin, was front page news on the Stars and Stripes of Wednesday.

Today I woke up to this news story out of Des Moines:
Tornado slams Iowa Boy Scout Camp

I talked to my sister, Colleen the other day and she said the rain never stops. When she landed in Cedar Rapids a few weeks ago, she thought there was a new lake in Iowa due to the heavy rains. My mom forwarded me an e-mail two days ago about my aunt's campgrounds in Elkader that had to be evacuated and the water is up to the church. I can't remember it ever flooding the Catholic Church before. My other aunt wrote "It is unreal how bad it is."

I found this video on YouTube this morning showing the river in Elkader:


As I hear the comparison to the great flood of 1993, I can only shake my head. Even though I was a child at the time, that year is stuck in my head as a "bad time" for Iowa. I remember vividly the photos on the front of the Sunday Des Moines Register illustrating Ames, including Iowa State's Hilton Coliseum, submerged in 14 feet of water.

It is moments like this when I wish I could magically fly back and be there with my extended family. I hope the annual Willes Fathers Day picnic at Pikes Peak in McGregor doesn't get rained out on Sunday. I wish I could help. I want to fill sandbags. I want to report the stories of the people living in Gays Mills or Cedar Falls. Instead all I can do it pray.

It is moments like this one that makes me homesick.