On Rock Valley's main street, Joan Roseboom and her daughter, Brittney Westra, watched as a tractor with a bucket and claw attached collected mangled goods – cowhide furniture, drywall, insulation and flood-soaked clothing – from outside their boutique, Copper Rose Apparel.
The shop was a dream realised two years ago with the help of COVID-19 relief grants, and after seeing the destruction on Monday, they said they would work to get it reopened.
“We were like, yeah, let's do it, and it won't be as much work as it was the first time,” Roseboom said, “but the more we dig, the more we realize there's still quite a bit of work to be done.”
Elsewhere in Rock Valley, the waters receded Monday, leaving behind a swamp-like stench that persisted as temperatures reached 90 degrees, but the Bleecks managed to reach safety on Saturday to assess the damage to their home.
Mud got onto the recliner, mattress and side table, completely destroying them.
But still sitting on the mantelpiece on the lower level of the house was an urn containing the ashes of their daughter Hallie, who died in a car accident last year at age 35.
“When I got here, I said, 'Randy, we've got Harry,'” Bleick said. “That was the only thing I was really worried about.”
Rollin Higgins Contributed reporting from North Sioux City, South Dakota
