Flooded with loss: one victim's story

By Theresa Breault
Cardinal Staff

For those affected by the floods in Southeastern Minnesota, the possibility of a life-changing disaster was far from their minds.

Such was the case of Saint Mary’s University freshman Kasey Warnke, who lived in Stockton, Minn.
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Rains started to pour Aug.18, 2007, and Warnke’s entire home, from her basement to the top floor of her house, was soon flooded.

When the time came for Warnke to move in to SMU, the only possessions she had here were a pair of shoes, a pair of flip flops, and a half-full garbage bag with the only clothes she could salvage. Everything else was lost with the rest of her home.

Weeks later, Warnke still has not been able to get over the initial shock of such a disaster. “It hasn’t really sunk in yet that I have no house to go home to. I have no baby pictures to show my own kids anymore. I have nothing,” said Warnke.

Through the tragedy, however, organizations that have responded to victims’ cries. FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) has supplied the Warnke family with $26,000 in flood relief. Although it doesn’t even come close to compensating for the loss of their home or the two cars that were destroyed along with it, it will be used to help get them back on their feet.

SMU has also been doing a great deal to help out with victims such as Warnke. Rockin’ for Relief raised nearly $5,400 for flood victims. Two-hundred athletes, along with an additional 112 other students from SMU, have volunteered their time to aid in the clean-up of towns affected.

Although this will never make up for all of the losses suffered, we can only hope that, in the end, it will help brighten these very dark times.