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The trip from Vinton, Iowa to Pierre, South Dakota is not the most picturesque of drives. Endless cornfields, broken only by the occasional patch of soybeans, makes ten hours seem like two days. When we reached Ft. Pierre, which lies across the Missouri River from Pierre itself, the terrain began to change; first from cornfields to grassland, then the grassland quickly gave way to the low, tightly packed hills that surround the city.
A rusty brown color, flecked with hues of gold, the hills gain a certain luster during sunrise and sunset. Speaking of which, there are few places that rival the beauty of the sunrises and sunsets in Pierre, it is a moving experience to watch the sun descend into the glimmering hills, the capital building in the background, while the sky changes from pink to fuschia to crimson and finally to black. This more than makes up for aesthetic appeal, or lack thereof, of the city itself. The hospitality, generosity and kindness of the citizens of Pierre (pronounced “Peer” by locals) contributes tremendously to the city’s charm as well. During our brief time in the area we encountered many smiles, genuine gratitude, and lots of free food.
While meeting the people of the Pierre/Ft. Pierre area was rewarding, the work itself was equally, if not more, rewarding. In May of this year, due to heavy precipitation events and snow melt near the Missouri River headwaters, the Army Corps of Engineers was forced to release a tremendous amount of water from the Oahe Dam (just upriver from Pierre) in order to prevent water from pouring over the top. For those living near the riverbanks or in lower lying areas this meant flooding. Many spent a great deal of money sandbagging their homes to little avail. Some homes had up to five feet of water inside of them at the peak of the flooding and most houses still had standing water as late as August. After the water receded many homeowners were at a loss as to what to do, and many lacked the financial resources to take action. The result is that many houses were left untouched despite the damage. The first house we worked on was one such house.
Upon entering the house; clad in protective coveralls, P-100 respirators, gloves, and other safety gear, we found mushrooms growing in the carpet, the particle board underneath saturated and warped, mold covering the house from floor to ceiling, and a spectacular odor of mold and rot. The process of gutting a house is not a complicated one. It is, however, a long and, at times, strenuous one. We began by removing carpets and any furniture that remained in the home. Next to come out was the particle board. This was perhaps the most difficult part of the process. Because the board was so saturated it would not come off in sections but rather in small chunks (if we were lucky) or shreds. This was also the most noxious part of the process. The smell of festering water trapped between the particle board and the floor boards combined with the odor of the soaked and rotting particle board itself to create a special kind of stench that cut right through our respirators. Our next task was to remove all dry wall from first the walls and then the ceiling. After we took everything down to the studs all that was left was to remove all of the nails protruding from the floors, studs, and rafters. After that tedious process was completed we were ready to scrub and sanitize the house. We first scrubbed the entire house with pine sol using scrub brushes then followed up by giving the home a thorough coating with a bleach and water solution to prevent any mold from growing again. The whole process took twelve of us three days to complete and once we were done we felt a profound sense of accomplishment.
Throughout the three days that we worked on the house the owners, an elderly couple, or their family were there everyday. They brought us snacks and water and bought us dinner on the last day we worked on the house. Having them at the worksite and getting to know them enhanced the experience of working on their home. We were able to attach faces to the work we were doing and knew exactly the magnitude of the impact we made in their lives.
After finishing the first house we worked on another house just down the road. This one was in much better shape since the owner, who was also incredibly hospitable, had already started gutting. We finished the second house in half the time before returning to our first work site to clean out the garage, which still had standing water. From there we moved on to the city auditorium, which was essentially a basketball court with a shooting range in the basement. The ground floor was unharmed so we began work in the basement. We removed five dumpsters worth of debris and other miscellaneous items, such as toilets, shelves, and archery targets. We had taken down the majority of the drywall in the cavernous basement when our team leader called a team meeting. She informed us that we would be leaving in a few hours to go to Sioux City, Iowa, which had also been flooded in May.
The general feeling of the team at this news was disappointment. We all enjoyed being in Pierre for a number of reasons; the aforementioned beauty of the area, the generosity of the people, and our accommodations. We had been living in a church basement that had been retrofitted with bunk beds and showers to accommodate us and another team, which had been in Pierre for several weeks prior to our arrival. Having the other team with us was perhaps what most made us want to stay in Pierre. It is a team with which we had made friends prior to our arrival in Pierre and living with them only strengthened that friendship. However, we knew as long as there was meaningful work for us in Sioux City we would be fine.

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