March 28, 2024

‘People lost their homes. People lost everything’

JC Historical Museum seek residents affected by Flood of 1993

NEWTON – In 1993, Joseph Otto was 9 years old. He lived on his family’s home in Mound Prairie Township. As many longtime residents may recall, that was the year the Midwest experienced a truly devastating flood.

“I never seen so much water in my life,” Otto said. “The water came within a few hundred yards from our house, so you can see it from the yard of our house. If you were in Colfax, the bridge from town to the interstate was closed. The Westend of town, which is generally the lower income part of town, as completely wiped out.”

Nearly 25 years later, Otto, now 34 years old, is the executive director of the Jasper County Historical Museum. After being named to the position in August, the Jasper County native decided he wanted to collect the accounts of residents from that fateful year.

“What do you remember about the floods? What do you remember about getting that call that night the water was totally going into your living room? What did you do?” he said. “Anybody who had to get on the interstate and drive to the west had to drive through the Skunk River Valley, the Des Moines River Valley and witness the flood and all its glory.”

The director has already reached out to some residents affected by the flood. He hopes to collect these oral historical accounts from as many residents as possible, then transcribe, store and preserve the narratives in the museum’s library as a permanent addition.

Along side preserving the personal narratives, Otto has begun collecting items for an exhibit. He has received a box full of flood related items from Skip Richards, member of the historical society. Richards was a postal worker at the time of the floods. His box contained photos from his commute, comedic T-shirts related to the floods, Des Moines Register newspapers from the time and a VHS tape that shows KCCI’s coverage of the flood.

In addition to that, the curators is working with the state museum to get more items for the exhibit.

He said one item he hopes to get are the water cans filled by beer companies like Anheuser-Busch, Keystone, Coors and Miller due to the flooded out water supply in Des Moines.

“The city didn’t have water for three weeks. You couldn’t take a shower or use your tap water. All these relief efforts started happening around the country ... My mom worked in Des Moines at a hospital and the hospital water supply was shut off,” Otto said. “We hosted people in Des Moines who would shower in our house and go to work the next day.”

Otto said this will be his first exhibit as director of the museum.

He said it was only fitting because after the 1993 flood, Otto fell in love with bodies of water around the state, and the history behind them. He received a bachelor’s degree from Iowa State and master’s from Appalachian State University, both in history. For his final project, Otto wrote the history of the Skunk River.

“My most vivid memory of the flood is that I swam in it, which looking back was pretty stupid,” the museum curator said. “You should of seen my mom’s face when I came back to the house covered in mud ... That could of shaped the way I see history. I don’t know for sure, but it was one of my earliest memories of water.”

Along side with preserving the personal narratives of the people who experienced the flood, Otto said this exhibit could help spread light on future floods and provoke action on a legislative level.

“People lost their homes. People lost everything. That was supposed to be flood that happens once every 100 years, but it happened again in 2008. It happened again in 2010. I’m 34 years old and I have seen three major floods in my lifetime,” he said. “My goal is to start getting these conversations started.”

To submit a personal testimony or to donate items connected to the floods of 1993, call 641-792-9118, email director@jaspercountymuseum.com or message Jasper County Historical Museum on Facebook.

The exhibit will open May 1.

Contact Anthony Victor Reyes at areyes@jaspercountytribune.com,