Sheldon, Iowa and Sheldon, Texas — It was just a year ago when Hurricane Harvey blasted the gulf coast with torrential rains that caused widespread flooding in the Houston area. Within a few days after the hurricane devastated the area, folks in Sheldon, Iowa discovered that the was another Sheldon, this one an unincorporated suburb of Houston, that was reeling from the effects of Harvey. That discovery led to a relief effort known as Sheldon IA 4 Sheldon TX.
At the time, KIWA reached out to Amanda Tieman, the Director of Bands at Null Middle School in the Sheldon Independent School District. We talked to Mrs. Tieman to see how the area is rebounding a year after the Harvey disaster. She says school repair and renovation wasn’t completely finished until this past summer.
She says that, although there are still some 3-thousand students that are still listed as displaced, the community is rebuilding, and the population is bouncing back.
In the aftermath of the flooding, Mrs. Tieman had expressed concerns about what the flooding would do to school enrollment, stating that many of the Sheldon families displaced by the flood had taken refuge with relatives in other parts of the city, and in some cases, other parts of the United States. She tells KIWA now that she is pleased to report that enrollment is up.
One of the photos Mrs. Tieman had shared with us last year was of a badly warped gym floor at C.E. King High School in Sheldon, Texas. She tells us that floor is, once again, flat, and that their football field is back to normal, thanks to a generous donation from a famous source.
Tieman tells KIWA that the generous donations from people here in northwest Iowa were not only important to meet their needs in the days following the disaster, but were also important to them emotionally, knowing that so many people whom they had never met, cared enough to extend a helping hand in a time of dire need, and they will be forever grateful.
Despite all the good recovery news, Mrs. Tieman tells KIWA that in some sections of the city there are businesses that are still not able to reopen a year after the floodwaters receeded.
Gym Floor at C.E. King High School where Tieman’s band played their spring concert this year (photo courtesy Mandi Tieman)
Some miscellaneous images from Sheldon, Texas, one year ago……………………………
