Recent weather conditions have caused flooding in the Midwestern area forcing families to evacuate their homes on March 13.

“I had such little time to prepare and pack everything that we would need for however long we are going to be evacuated. I was so scatterbrained I couldn’t even really put a list in my head of what we needed,” flood evacuee Katrina LaRette said.

A flash flood warning was issued on Mar 13 and roads began closing the next day. Highway 370 closed and households in Paradise Lakes and Green Acres were the first to evacuate. Over the course of a week, 93 counties were evacuated and four people’s lives were lost in this flooding. Most of the flooding has been contained and residents are now allowed to go back to their houses, unless stated inhabitable.

“The hardest part is the adjusting, I have two little ones, one just a newborn and another two years old,” LaRette said. “They are way too young for them to understand that we won’t be back home for a couple of days.”

With the amount of damage done to the livestock, crops, infrastructure and buildings, Nebraska faces huge losses. The estimated amount that Nebraska has lost is around $1.3 billion, $400 million from livestock, $440 million for crops, $449 million for roads and $85 million for the businesses and buildings lost. Vice President Mike Pence came to the flooded area to see the damage done to the communities. Pence then spoke to Governor Pete Ricketts about the recovery from the destruction caused by the floods.

“When I had spoke with our vice president, he said that it was one of the worst flooding disasters that he had seen. I’m hoping that it’ll help with making the decision on whether or not this is a disaster. If it is declared an official disaster the state could receive some money back from the Federal Emergency Management Agency,” Ricketts said.

Sixty-seven families at East have been affected by the flood, displacing many people from their homes. Because of the loss of items to the flood, East has sprung into action to help the victims of the flood. Many of the classrooms have had boxes for donations, they have asked for toiletries, snacks and health items. Culinary also made cookies and cupcakes for the first responders to help.

“Honestly, because everyone is okay in my house and I have a nice place to stay, I personally don’t need anything. I have everything I need; I feel if people are going to help any of the flood victims they should help the people who haven’t been as fortunate as I have,” junior Joshua Talley said.

Many groups and organizations in the community have been helping the flood victims. The American Red Cross and Life Gate Church have been providing shelter to families who have been displaced. Supermarkets such as Hy-vee, Fareway and Target have been donating food and water as well. Some banks in the area have donated money to the American Red Cross. To help out any victims in the community, anyone can give donations to the Salvation Army or the American Red Cross.

“As an adult in the community I believe that we have an obligation to show students that adversity is a part of life and that most often you grow stronger as a person when you go through these hard times. One of my favorite quotes states ‘you grow through what you go through,’” culinary instructor Lori Huffman said.