WRIGHT COUNTY, Iowa — This weekend brought hail, pouring rain, and flash flooding to Wright County, one of the counties Governor Kim Reynolds has issued a disaster proclamation for.
Emergency management officials told Local 5 that many gravel roads are closed, some are damaged and that some people have dealt with up to five feet of flooding in their basements.
The Wright County Fair in the city of Eagle Grove wasn’t spared. Still, the county is determined to keep the tradition alive.
It isn't as apparent now, but on Tuesday most of the fairgrounds were flooded. Fair manager Tricia Rosendahl said all that rain came right before opening day.
“It really was disheartening at the time because we worked so hard to get the grounds so nice and, in a short amount of time, it felt like everything was underwater," she said.
Rosendahl would know. She was there when the water started rising high and fast.
“There was just water standing everywhere and it was pouring so hard I couldn’t get to my car. When it did let up enough that I could run to my car, I was in ankle-deep water," she remembered.
There were parts of the fairgrounds that looked like a lake and the cattle barn was flooded with nearly knee-deep water.
However, Rosendahl said closing wasn’t an option.
“These kids have worked hard all year long preparing for this event - preparing their animals and their static exhibits for this event so we really needed to find a way to make it work," she said.
Since then, fairground drains have been hard at work and, with some rescheduling and relocating events, staff were able to open the fair on Tuesday according to schedule.
Despite flooded roads and basements, the community has showed up for the long-held tradition, some even offering a hand.
“We’ve had communities and businesses and other local fairs from surrounding areas reaching out, saying ‘How can we help you?’” Rosendahl said.
Locals with flooded basements are on clean-up duty too. Emergency management officials told Local 5 that the Red Cross and Salvation Army have been helping out. Plus, the city has put out dumpsters for people to throw away items damaged from storms.
While Emergency Management Coordinator Jarika Beecher said most of the water is probably out, cleaning the aftermath is a necessity.
According to Beecher, some basement flood water mixed with sewage water because of backed up sewers.
"Our storm drains were overwhelmed. There was so much water just on the roads and then trying to get it off the roads and in the sewers and in the storm drains so it did get into people's basements," she said.
The amount of flood water in basements varied widely based on location, from two inches to five feet, according to Beecher.
She added that the hailstorm earlier in the weekend caused roof and car damage too. Those issues were confined to smaller sections of the county.