To the editor:

From Humboldt through Fort Dodge, Coalville, Kalo, Dolliver Memorial State Park, Lehigh, and into Stratford, the Des Moines River winds its way through Webster County, leaving in its wake a beautiful throughline of nature, recreation, and scenery. But sometimes, just sometimes, it weaves a path of destruction as well. This was the case these past two weeks here as massive flooding from up north made the river steadily flood to its highest level in almost 60 years. Yet what could have been a terrible disaster turned into an opportunity for Webster County to display, in full force, the power of our incredible community.

On Saturday, EMA Director Dylan Hagen called a meeting of officials from towns and organizations all over the county to start preparing for worst-case scenarios should the river rise to the level the National Weather Service predicted. By Sunday, there were sandbagging stations at Lehigh and Willow Ridge, with more in Otho and Fort Dodge for folks to help out on Monday.

The weekend was muggy and hot. We were under a heat advisory. And yet all over Webster County, folks put their lives on hold to help their neighbors. They were sandbagging. They were donating water and food, towels and supplies. They were loading their trucks up to capacity and driving them to homes and businesses in the areas of concern. They were selflessly, instantly, and without question, jumping in to help their neighbors. People and organizations from near and far came here to chip in and do their part. It didn’t matter who you were, where you lived, or what you did for a living, you hopped in and got to work.

Behind the scenes, there were people organizing, donating en masse, and dropping everything to play their part to make sure Webster County was as prepared as we could be. Mapping out which areas would be affected, making sure every pertinent piece of information was being shared with the public, thinking of all the ways people would be affected — and brainstorming solutions to impending problems. Years of building relationships and collaboration made cross-organizational decisions easier to make and implement.

“Thank you” doesn’t come close to expressing the deep appreciation we feel for the amazing efforts to protect our county from the flood of 2024. These efforts touched every part of our community, working together for a common cause. So we, as the Webster County Board of Supervisors, would like to convey a heartfelt and humble message of gratitude to every single person involved (then and still ongoing) in making sure that we took care of our own.

We could list every single person who helped, but that would take up this entire issue, so please accept this letter from all of us, as we humbly speak for the community at large when we say once again, “Thank you.” This level of community support doesn’t just happen overnight, and it doesn’t happen everywhere. We’re so proud of all of you for truly putting the WE in WEbster.

Webster County

Board of Supervisors

Niki Conrad, Chair

Mark Campbell

Nick Carlson

Austin Hayek

Bob Thode