Iowans provided shelter to stranded motorists
By Jean Caspers-Simmet
simmet@agrinews.com
Date Modified: 02/18/2010 11:22 AM
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LATIMER, Iowa — Franklin County farmers and communities provided shelter from the storm during the Jan. 25 blizzard.
Val and Ian Plagge's farm just north of Latimer near Interstate 35 became a port in the storm.
Ian's parents, Cindy and Roy Plagge, live 1.5 miles away and Val was going to join her husband and his parents for dinner at noon.
"I went about 1/8 of a mile and I couldn't see the front end of my car," Val said. "It was so bad. I carefully turned around and went home."
A friend of Val's sister was driving from the Twin Cities to Des Moines when the storm hit. She checked with her parents in Des Moines when she stopped for gas in Mason City. They encouraged her to continue but several miles down the road, but she couldn't see.
She tried calling Val's sister, Amanda, remembering that Amanda had a sister south of Mason City. Several phone calls later she reached Val and asked if she could stay with her . She got stuck in a drift when she took the exit off Interstate 35.
"So Dad and I took the pickup with the plow on the front and pulled her out and plowed a path for her to our house," Ian said. "The gravel roads were drifted shut by this time and impassable."
Ian and Roy were on their way back to Roy and Cindy's to finish hog chores when they came upon a pickup in the ditch.
"We plowed a path, backed up, hooked a chain on the pickup and pulled them out," Ian said. "By then the storm was so bad, we just took them back to my mom and dad's house."
The couple in the pickup was driving from Wisconsin to California. The husband was in the Navy and returning to his base.
"We got everyone safely back on their way the next day," Ian said.
Ian and Val got a thank you-note from their house guest, and the parents of the young Navy man wrote to thank Cindy and Roy.
A safe haven for weary travelers
Shortly after the Plagges rescued the motorists, a major pile-up involving 39 cars and semis occurred on Interstate 35 near Latimer. One person died and many more injured. EMTs and fire fighters from surrounding towns tended to the wrecks.
Latimer Mayor Kent Morton said that when emergency workers realized the severity of the accidents, the sheriff started routing people to the Latimer Community Center.
"We had about 50 people here," he said. "The local grocery store had closed because of the storm, but he opened up and brought food across the street. We made soup and sandwiches for everyone."
The mayor and community members offered their spare bedrooms because it would be more comfortable than the cots in the community center.
"I think we had about 10 single guys who actually stayed at the Community Center," Morton said.
The mayor and his wife hosted three people.
"Everyone had a place to stay and there was a good response from the city council, the fire department, the emergency squad and all the citizens," Morton said. "We asked for help, and everyone pitched in. I really want to thank our little community. We've received many nice letters from people," Morton said. "We're a safe haven for weary travelers."
God provided
Jon Anderson with Church of the Living Word in Hampton got a call from a local restaurant that people were coming off the highway and there was no place for them to go. Many were from the accident scene.
"We opened our building, which is an old middle school," Anderson said. "It's an ideal place for something like this."
The Red Cross dropped off supplies and people started bringing blankets, pillows and air mattresses.
"It was really fun to see the community come together," Anderson said. "We had 80 people here, and the last ones left by the next afternoon."
Anderson said they heard frightening stories from people who had been in the middle of the pile-up. Three EMTs were stranded at the church and they provided medical attention to anyone who needed it.
"The whole thing was a blessing, and God provided," Anderson said.
Room in our inn
The front board at Zion St. John Lutheran Church in Sheffield reads, "He is a shelter in the storm." Bryanne Hensley, the church's youth and family ministries director, would like to add one more line, "There is room in our inn."
Hensley said she got a call from a church member at 4:30 p.m. that the church was needed as an emergency center.
"I've only been here five months and I really had no idea how many people to expect," Hensley said. "I was thinking 10 to 20 and we got the coffee going. The church member's wife is an EMT, and she called to say there would probably be 100 or more."
EMTs and fire fighters started calling their spouses, and a 5 p.m. dinner was quickly organized.
Hensley was hostess and residents took care of the rest. By 7 p.m. 150 people had signed in, but Hensley said there were more than that because some never did sign in.
As the evening wore on, residents offered to put up people in their homes and 80 people spent the night with Sheffield residents.
"Some people didn't want to leave the church, and we had people sleeping two to a pew, there were people sleeping by the altar and in the library," Hensley said. "About 100 people and eight dogs spent the night."
The church made its wireless Internet and cable TV available to help pass the time.
"One guy took our picture and immediately uploaded it on Facebook," Hensley said.