Posted: 11/6/07
Money Creek Campgroundís owner recalls August floods
By Tom Murphy
Special to the Caledonia Argus
Wayne Fitting of Houston had a call from Maureen Hughes shortly after midnight on the morning of August 19, telling him that a 911 call had been placed to the Houston County Sheriffís Office notifying the sheriff that Money Creek Campground and The Haven restaurant had been flooded.
Because of downed trees on the road it would take Fitting nearly 10 hours to get from his home in Mound Prairie to the campground and restaurant he leases from his father.
Hughes is the manager and she knew the damage Fitting would face because she was there. She kept him updated with phone calls through the night.
The Houston Fire Department was unable to respond to the call. When the Rushford Fire Department answered the mutual aid call from Houston County, the fire department personnel were kept in Rushford because Fire Chief Mike Ebner believed firemen would be unable to get over Vinegar Hill to reach Money Creek. The fire chief had been Tri-County Electricís dispatcher earlier in the evening and knew those crews had been unable to answer emergency calls because of mudslides.
"I knew it wasnít going to be good," Fitting recalled. "I wanted to make sure everyone was all right first." Fortunately, there were no injuries. "Then I went to see how the electronic equipment had fared. All that survived were the file cabinets." Everything else was ruined.
The campground had 200 Moto Guzzi rally participants staying there that night. About 250 people were at the campground. When flood waters went over Houston County Road 26, the campers moved to higher ground. The campground has 120 permanent campsites and 85 daily rental campsites. A number of the motorcycle rally attendees were able to flee to the higher ground occupied by the permanent camp residents. Two people climbed on top of a camper and then were forced to climb into the trees to escape the high water. Two other people were rescued from a camper in an inflatable plastic device. Amazingly, no one was reported hurt. The water rose to six feet inside The Haven.
The Haven remains closed as Fitting waits to see the outcome of his SBA application. Other grants from FEMA and state funds are dependent on what happens with the SBA. One big question for Fitting is whether he will accept the SBA proposal. A requirement of expensive flood insurance is tied to it. Other decisions will follow once the terms of the contingent programs become known.
About 25 of the daily rental sites were flooded. They have needed considerable clean-up and landscaping. The eight tent sites are another matter. Springs were uncovered by the flood and continue to run.
"Weíll have to see about these tent sites next season," Fitting said. The campground business was off 70 percent in September.
Meanwhile, Fitting is working every day on returning the campground to its former condition. The only way to get to the campground on a paved road is from the south on Highway 76. Houston County 26 will be open soon and the bridge on Highway 76, two miles north of Money Creek, is expected to be open by mid-November.
Compounding the situation are conflicting opinions about what can and canít be done. Fitting has had to pay for a flood plain survey. The restaurant will need an elevation matching the 100 year flood level.
Initial reports of the Rushford flood have estimated that event far exceeded the 200 year flood that the Rushford dike was supposed to cover. Fitting noted the 150-year-old mill near the campground had been washed away by the flood.
Fitting is a remarkably calm man considering all that has happened. He and his wife Carla leased the facilities in March 2003 from his father Allen (Bud) Fitting. Just into 2004, a fire struck. Lost was a nine-room lodging facility, a two-story house and the winter restaurant. Only the house, which currently serves to register guests, has been replaced to this point.
"Now the worst is over," Fitting says. "What can possibly hit us next? We can move on."
Fitting concentrates on the positives. "No one died; we can rebuild things; we were not taken out totally; and we were open the following weekend. People just had to take a round-about way to get here." He admits that keeping a positive perspective has not always been easy. He regrets that a number of people lost their part-time jobs at the restaurant. His dad and uncles Ralph and Rolland founded the business in 1958 and opened the campground in 1962.
Wayne is quick to credit the help of volunteers. He was a little hesitant to name groups because so many helped and he didnít want to forget anyone. He remembered the Houston High School football team taking a day away from practice to clean out the restaurant dining hall. He talked about a group of Gap clothing employees who left a meeting in La Crosse to come and help. There were several church organizations who came.
Support from Houston was coordinated by Cheryl Sanden-Beth and Pastor Lane Zaffke. Fitting has also been working with Houston County EDAís Joyce Iverson. Heís also grateful for the help from the permanent campers. People provided skid-loaders to clean away the mud. Help also came for pressure washing everything using the required bleach solution to disinfect the building.
Last Sunday night, Shirley Pierce, a frequent camper at Money Creek, organized a fundraiser at the La Crescent American Legion. Monday afternoon, the campground was notified that Pierce would be delivering a check for $18,000. Pierce was a food manager at The Legion in La Crescent and ran The Coffee House in Caledonia several years ago.
"You just have to keep looking at the positives," Fitting said.
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