What a disaster!

They didn’t continue for 40 days and 40 nights, but the rainstorms that pounded Jefferson County and led to record flooding seemed at the time to be of biblical proportions.

As we watched the Rock, Bark and Crawfish rivers surge, we were amazed to have witnessed two high water levels in the same year. As the days went on, that amazement grew to shock as the latter flood rose toward 100- and 500-year highs.

It didn’t take us long to wonder when help would be on the way. After Hurricane Katrina, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) had vowed it would be on task and on time from then on, wherever needed. So as storm sewers backed up and rivers swelled to submerge Jefferson businesses and 40 percent of the county’s cropland washed out, we couldn’t help but ask, “where’s FEMA?”

More days went by, and we received e-mail after e-mail touting FEMA’s Midwest flood response.

One reported that 19 Wisconsin counties had been declared federal disaster areas by FEMA, and then the next day, 22. “The declarations cover virtually all of southern Wisconsin,” it said. Yeah, all of southern Wisconsin except Jefferson County.

As of this past Monday evening, each and every county neighboring ours had been declared a federal disaster area, meaning that residents may apply for federal assistance, typically earmarked for expenses such as home repair and temporary housing costs. Certainly, we understand why some areas to the north such as Lake Delton were among the first to be so designated, but now that we’re getting all their leftover water, we again muse, why isn’t FEMA acting?

FEMA representatives came to Jefferson County last Friday to assess the situation, and Governor Doyle was here as well on a separate fact-finding mission. Doyle shook his head grimly, expressed grave concern and offered verbal support. Yet as of late Monday, he and FEMA hadn’t given the word about a disaster declaration.

Granted, FEMA has been busy. In Iowa, Indiana and Wisconsin, 46,314 registrations for assistance have been received from disaster victims and $82.3 million has been approved for housing and other disaster-related needs. Its declaration led to the USDA approving operation of the Disaster Food Stamp Program in Indiana (37 counties), Iowa (36 counties), and Wisconsin (19 counties). As of June 19, over $1.6 million in these benefits and supplements have been provided to approximately 4,000 new and 1,500 ongoing households in the three states.

Now, we’ve been fortunate not to have had rushing lakes take out houses or entire towns displaced, but Jefferson County has been not without its own woes. The City of Jefferson is virtually an island with no bridges open to civilian travel. We heard one estimate that some 1,000 properties have been damaged in some way due to flooding across the county, from Hubbleton to Fort Atkinson, and hundreds of residents were forced to leave their homes when the floodwaters pushed toward their doors.

We’ve got entire communities wearing dirty laundry and avoiding long showers so as not to overburden the sewage plants, and countless residents from ages 4 through 80 assembling and delivering sandbags. We’ve seen strangers coming in busloads to help out strangers. We’ve talked to folks who are scared out of their wits about what will happen to their homes and security ... especially since they had no flood insurance because they did not live in a floodplain.

That’s a disaster, in our book.

Get on the stick, FEMA, and give Jefferson County residents some hope.

Take care with flood repair

You don’t have to live along a river to experience flooding, as many area residents unfortunately know all too well. A snowy winter and wet spring, exacerbated by a series of flash floods, has overloaded storm sewers, which then back up into basements of homes far from flooded areas.

It's been estimated that more than 1,000 homes and businesses have been affected by the flooding in Jefferson County alone, and when the waters recede, owners will be seeking out contractors to fix the damage. Whether its a little mold in the basement or damage to the entire house, the Better Business Bureau offers the following advice to ensure that the work is done right:

• Ask for and check the company’s references. Call the Better Business Bureau at 1-800-273-1002 to check if the company has a satisfactory record. If there are any complaints filed with that firm, the BBB will let you know.

• Beware of price gouging. There are some unethical contractors that might be marking up their products or services by as much as 500 percent. Be wary of anyone simply knocking on your door and offering to do repairs. If you can wait to do any repairs until the busy time passes, do so.

• Make any temporary repairs, then take the time to hire ethical business contractors. Beware of contractors who claim your home is structurally unsafe and needs expensive repairs.

• Check with your insurance company and make certain to take photos and document any repair needs.

• Compare bids, but determine which company will provide the best quality and not just the lowest price. Some “storm chaser” companies will offer rock-bottom prices, but might be unlicensed or provide inferior services.

• Reputable companies do not ask for the entire fee up front. Never pay more than one-third of the cost of the repairs before the work is complete. Also, pay by check or credit card instead of cash.
This might all just seem like common sense, but plenty of folks get taken each year by unscrupulous contractors. Doing your homework should ensure you’re not among them ... and that a man-made disaster will not follow a natural one.

Give to the Red Cross

It was just last month when the American Red Cross responded to a nighttime blaze at Fort Atkinson’s Commonwealth Village Apartments. Not only did the organization provide aid and comfort on the scene, but it also helped many of the dozens of families left homeless with food and shelter.

Now the Red Cross is at it again, only this time on a much grander scale. And instead of fire, it is responding to water.

A lot of water.

In fact, records amounts of water.

In hardly more than a week, a series of thunderstorms spurred flash floods that soaked southern Wisconsin and then, when there was no more sponge left in the sil, poured rain into storm sewers, creeks and rivers. The result was the unprecedented June floods that have pushed the Rock, Crawfish and Bark rivers past record levels in most communities.

Not surprisingly, as waterways rose to the occasion, so did the Fort Atkinson Branch of the South Central Chapter of the American Red Cross. Early on, the organization’s staff and volunteers were offering a helping hand. It has twice set up a shelter for evacuees at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, and while most people apparently have been moving to friends and relatives’ homes, one couple did stay there the other night. The shelter also is open to flood response workers who need to get some rest.

Two Red Cross Emergency Response Vehicles also have been making the rounds in the area, providing food and some supplies as needed throughout the county. Much of this assistance has been going to the countless area residents and out-of-towners who have stepped forward to fill and place sandbags in flooding areas.

In addition, the Red Cross soon will be setting up a service center, where flood victims may pick up cleanup kits and other supplies for the undaunting task facing them upon returning home.

Now as we mentioned, the Red Cross is made up mainly of volunteers, whose dedication has been so very apparent these past two weeks. However, many of the services it provides — sending families in motels, feeding fire or flood victims, setting up shelters, distributing supplies — takes money, and considering the many disasters the nonprofit organization has responded to of late, the coffers are getting low.

That’s where each and every one of us comes in. Many people have helped physically in this flood response, so we now challenge those unable to do so to response monetarily. Send a check to the Red Cross at 401 Madison Ave., Suite C, Fort Atkinson, WI, 53538. To ensure that your donation goes toward helping our flooding response, include “Local Disaster Relief” in the memo line of the check.

For 145 years, the American Red Cross has been a beacon of hope on faraway battlefields, amid destruction by hurricanes, fires and earthquakes, and, of course, during devastation of flooding. There are a lot of ways to help in this crisis, but we think contributing to the American Red Cross is a great place to start.

Is there a generation gap?

Let’s see … The Greatest Generation beget the Silent Generation, which beget the Baby Boomers, who beget Generation X, which beget the Millennials.

Did we miss a few-million people somewhere in there?

Oh yeah … Generation Y, the YouTube Generation and, of course, the Pepsi Generation. You figure out where they all fit in.

Anyway, from the Great Depression to D-Day to flower power to the glass ceiling and, again, war, sociologists seem to label each generation according to the unique challenges and experiences it has faced.

The children whose biggest worry right now is getting a sunny day for an outside recess will witness increased globalization, growing threats of terrorism, rapid global warming and booming competitive economies in China and India during their young lives. Will they be able to rise to the occasion to face these challenges head-on?

The experts say “yes.” This so-called “Millennial Generation” — today’s schoolchildren —is set to inherit an uncertain and turbulent world, and they apparently will be able to handle it. In fact, according to Weekly Reader Research, they’ve been primed to do so since birth.

Wired and wise beyond their years, “Millennials” are a unique generation, we’re told. Chief among their singularity is their ability — thanks to the media and a constant stream of information via television, the Internet all the other high-tech gadgetry with which even the youngest of them is familiar and their parents and grandparents can hardly even turn on — to have a greater influence on their parents rather than the reverse. Similarly, instead of being told what to like by marketers, they have reversed the rules and dictate what they get out of companies. Deft with technology, they are hardwired to use it as both a part of everyday life as well as a tool to find wide-ranging solutions. They innovate, create and think as entrepreneurs. “Big business” is a friend, not a foe. They are unlike any generation before them.

That said, who will the Millennials grow up to be? What kind of businessmen/women and politicians will they be? How will they change the planet? How will they innovate?

Will they alter traditional industries like film and music? What makes them tick? How do they think?

We don’t know. And we doubt their parents do, either.

However, what we do know, thanks to Weekly Reader, is their basic demographics. Once we find out who they are, perhaps we can figure out what they are, and will be.

The Millennials are 110-million strong, and growing rapidly. The children of GenX, they truly are a multicultural generation: 46-percent Caucasian, 16-percent African American, 5-percent Asian, 19-percent Hispanic/Latino … and it is the Asian and Hispanic/Latino slice of the pie that is growing most rapidly.

Millennials are affluent; they have their own money and a huge influence on family spending habits. They are extremely achievement-oriented, and somewhat cynical and apprehensive about their future.

OK, that is who they are. Now here is what Weekly Reader Research says they think:

• 71 percent of America’s youth would vote for a female president — 82 percent of girls and 60 percent of boys — and 68 percent expect to see a woman president in their lifetime.

• 73 percent of America’s youth would vote for an African-American president. (While African-American youth are significantly more likely than other racial/ethnic groups to support an African-American candidate, it is noteworthy that a majority of tomorrow’s voters of all race/ethnic groups would support an African-American candidate.)

• Most of today’s youth know about global warming: 95.1 percent ages 13-18, 85.5 percent ages 10-12 and 71.2 percent ages 6-9 have heard of global warming.

A significant number also know that taking simple steps like replacing regular light bulbs with fluorescent bulbs helps. Young people ages 13-18 (76.8 percent), 10-12 (61.1 percent) are more aware about the benefits of fluorescent bulbs than their younger counterparts 6- to 9-year-olds (48.1 percent) but the 6- to 9-year-olds are getting the message.

• More than a third (38.9 percent) feel that big businesses/industry are most responsible for solving problems associated with global warming more so than individuals (31 percent) or the government (30.1 percent).

• 52 percent of America’s youth own a cell phone: almost four in 10 tweens and 74 percent of teens. More than half of Americans youth use their cell phone as more than a phone: 53 percent use it as a camera and 31 percent use it as a gateway to the Internet.

We don’t know where we’re going with this except to say that perhaps the Millenial Generation is mentally and physically equipped to finally achieve, or at least get America closer to achieving, many of the goals toward which their predecessors have strived. Goals like racial integration, gender equity, environmental awareness and — dare we say it? — world peace.

What’s the saying? Oh yes, “And a child shall lead them.”

At least, perhaps, eventually.

Something to keep in mind when Junior squirts chocolate milk out of his nose or throws a tantrum over doing homework in front of company.

—o—

Epilogue: While the so-called Millenial Generation might have the technological know-how, savvy and mindset to change the world tomorrow, they’re a tad difficult for some us to understand today.

Baby Boomers, who probably make up a good portion of middle and upper management positions in the companies in which the oldest Millenials are now finding jobs, are having to change their way of dealing with employees … just to make these new recruits happy.

A recent segment on CBS’ “60 Minutes” was rather eye opening. With parents who have pretty much given their children whatever they wanted whenever they wanted it, and tried so hard to shield them from life’s disappointments, today’s Millenials are not prepared to accept criticism. When they played sports, there were no winners or losers; everyone on the team got a participation ribbon. Just showing up was good enough, and their teachers and parents emphasized the positive and downplayed any role they might have had in the negative so much that in many cases, self-esteem is self-love. Confidence is one thing, but thinking that using that confidence as an excuse to have a disrespectful attitude is another.

The older Millenials expect a kinder, gentler boss who coddles instead of orders. Gives positive feedback rather than constructive criticism. Pats on the back … even when the quality of job doesn’t require them.

Being told what to do might not motivate these Millenials, but it doesn’t matter because they will get their way, too. For unlike the generations before them, staying in one job isn’t a priority. In fact, if they think you don’t like them, well, the next boss will. After all, they don’t need your hassles.

Certainly, not every young person entering the work world is like this, and as the Weekly Reader survey shows, the Millenial Generation does have a lot to offer … and will have even more so in the future.

Until then, the rest of us will have to put up with a foreign work ethic and laizze faire attitude that might be difficult to swallow at times.

Who says there isn’t a generation gap?