Volunteers help check tasks off the flood cleanup list

WAITSBURG-Waitsburg community members were slinging sandbags again over the weekend, but this time, there was no threat of flooding. Volunteers were busy removing the last bit of flood devastation from Waitsburg's Preston Park on Saturday.

Matthew and Krystal Wyatt were walking through Preston Park last week and had to climb over a sagging wall of sandbags and weeds to get to the river to go fishing.

"We have this motto that we've lived by for a long time, 'if you see a need, fill a need.' We went fishing and had to climb over the bags. Other people were also enjoying the river, so we thought- let's get this cleaned up!" Wyatt said.

After a request for help on Facebook, more than 30 volunteers showed up to the park bright and early, ready to work. People that were unable to help out physically, or were unable to attend, donated pickups to help transport the bags. Face coverings were encouraged while the volunteers waited to go to work. The Wyatt's made sure all of the volunteers were fueled up and ready to work, offering pastries and coffee from Millstone Cafe and Bakery

"The turnout was amazing. It was hard to get an actual count of volunteers because we had people staged at the fairgrounds unloading trucks, and all the drivers, and we had people working on both sides of the river, picking up sandbags," Wyatt said.

Wyatt said that he hoped that the cleanup would take some weight off the city's public works employees, as they have dedicated numerous hours to flood repair since the February 2020 floods, on top of keeping Waitsburg up and going. The flood affected more than 60 structures throughout Waitsburg and caused millions of dollars in damages. Many residents are still trying to rebuild, even months later.

The cleanup took less than two hours and included the portion of the dike along Preston Park and a section just south of the Preston Avenue bridge. Crews emptied damaged bags and loaded usable bags into the trucks to be stored at the fairgrounds.

"We went to the park later that night, and we just reflected on how quickly the cleanup was done and how great the park looks now," Wyatt said. "Thank you to everyone who showed up and helped and all the words of encouragement. Waitsburg is the best city we have lived in."