Volunteers protect town | News, sports, jobs

“It was amazing,” said Missy Ewing, a leader of the Otho Betterment Committee. “Immediately 50 to 60 people showed up and started working.”

As soon as the shoveling started, food and water were donated. Ewing said sandwiches and granola bars arrived for the workers. Later, Fareway and Hy-Vee also donated food and water.

On Sunday at 5 p.m., volunteers started shoveling three truckloads of sand. By 10 p.m., they were delivering and placing sandbags at homes in Otho and Kalo.

“We did it all,” Ewing said. “The homeowners didn’t have to worry. We have a lot of homeowners here who are older and couldn’t have lifted the sandbags. We made sure everyone was taken care of.”

-Drone photo by Rick Thompson

A lone house on East Main Street, near the Riverside Tap in Lehigh, is surrounded by floodwaters.

The sandbagging continued in Otho on Monday and Tuesday. Ewing said baseball teams came to help, and T-ball was canceled as coaches and families came to volunteer.

“There were so many people who volunteered to help,” Ewing said. “We are so grateful to everyone. Thanks also to the province and Dylan Hagen, who made sure we always had sand and bags, and the materials we needed to prepare.”