10/26/2013

This is Lyons, Colorado.

Last weekend several hundred volunteers from church went up to Lyons (it had just been re-opened to traffic) and worked at various locations where flood cleanup was needed. I worked at a small farm with maybe fifty other volunteers. The St. Vrain River is behind those trees in the background, and the mix of mud, sand, and rocks used to be a huge grassy yard. There were trucks half-buried– we excavated two of them and managed to pull one free of the mud; the other was too big for a pickup to pull with a tow cable. We emptied mud out of sheds, tore down chain link fences that had been twisted into wild shapes, and collected literally tons of equipment and belongings that had been destroyed by water and mud. Sadly, after hours of work, it hardly looked like we’d made a dent. There’s a long road to recovery for the people in this nice little town.

It was inspiring to see so many volunteers helping, though. In addition to nearly five hundred Mormons from Longmont, there were several hundred volunteers from an organization called Samaritan’s Purse, and I saw a huge group of other people wearing matching shirts (but too far away to know who they represented). There were hand-painted signs around town proclaiming “Lyons Strong” and “We are no longer a community– now we’re a family”. Although the extent of the disaster is staggering, it’s nice to see it bring out the best in people.