Small town Iowa makes a big comeback from 2019 historic flooding

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    OMAHA, NE (WOWT) — “This Rose of Sharon has survived two floods and it blooms every year like that,” said Janice Chaney. She and her husband spent months working to repair their home after last year’s flood; their flowering tree was a big part of the motivation.

“I figured if something like that can live through it,” said Chaney. “It gives you hope that you can, too.”

And live through it they did; coming together as a community while also receiving the kindness of strangers.

“We’ve had people that have come to help clean up and that helped a lot to give us the energy to go on you could say,” said Chaney.

Together, this town has cleaned up debris, seeded lawns, and rebuilt homes. Perhaps their greatest pride is bringing back their park.

“We’ve got a hometown pride community here in Percival that does a lot, and it’s just basically everyone pitching in their time and effort,” said Brian Spurlock, as he watched his children play. “Keeping things nice for the current generations and the generations to come.”

That commitment to helping out young and old is a large part of what brought this town back.

“The majority of the town is a retirement-based community and they’ve got nowhere else to go but home,” said Phil Peters. “So it’s nice to get people back in their homes.”

This year’s dry weather came as a big relief and a big help.

“Thankfully we haven’t had a lot of water this year,” said Peters. “Which has really helped get the ground table dried out so that people could get their basements cleaned and that kind of stuff.”

As for Janice Chaney, the comeback is no surprise.

“I was sure of it because it’s a sturdy stock that lives here in Percival — they’re willing to get things done.”

6 News asked several of those who have returned to Percival if they feel safe from another flood.

They said the Army Corps of Engineers’ work to repair the levee system has given them a lot more confidence in coming back.

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