A MOM & MORE: Mother Nature is being a B right now

It's been heartbreaking news all over my news feed the past week.

First, the news of the fires in Ruidoso became more and more dire throughout the week last week as word spread of evacuations, deaths and complete loss of property. Wildfires are still relatively new to me as they're not something found in Iowa, but the scenes of destruction coming out of Ruidoso and the surrounding area are heart-wrenching.

Here at the Observer, we've been working to keep up our news feed with ways local residents can help or where to donate. Various options for doing so can be found at rrobserver.com.

Then, on top of the fire coverage, news began trickling in about flooding in my hometown and the entire region of northwest Iowa Friday evening. By Saturday morning, the gates were open, and the images I was seeing of the area brought tears to my eyes. Many high school friends and people I know from growing up in the area are seeing damage from the excessive water.

My dad and his wife had it relatively easy — a couple of inches of water in the basement that they've been diligently pumping out. But others saw their basements full with the water creeping into the main floor of their homes. Some of the towns I often visited or drove through in my youth were submerged and required evacuations.

Many of the fields — with agriculture being the main industry of the region — were submerged as well with crops likely ruined.

Iowa's two biggest floods in my lifetime — 1993 and 2008 — did not hit me directly, thought the flood of '08 threatened the town I lived in and hit some lower-lying areas of the area my newspaper covered. It also damaged or destroyed some of the University of Iowa Campus that I had walked daily just a few years before.

But seeing the place of my childhood in such a state hit me harder than usual for some reason, maybe because I'm so far away and feel helpless.

Both the fires and the floods have, rightly so, received disaster declarations from their respective governors with assurances of seeking help at the federal level.

For those of you directly affected by either, my thoughts and heart are with you. May you find a way forward.