An Afternoon at 1207 North Main

The second day shooting the powerful flooding in the Southeast Missouri area proved to be eye-opening. Literally just a two-minute drive from my home stands 1207 North Main Street – currently surrounded on all sides by four feet of water and climbing hourly. A mountain of sandbags and barriers are all that protects the four-year home of Bill and Laura Sandquist. Floodwaters have engulfed the Red Star District of Cape Girardeau in which they live, with the majority of the water rising Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning, according to Bill Sandquist. As for help, the family obtained 15 sandbags per person from the fire department, significantly less than they need. “15 bags? Hey, I need 1500 bags,” said Sandquist. Most of the help has come from Red Star District neighbors, family and church members. “These are the times that really bring the community together,” said Sandquist. Sandquist’s son, John Gamage, who has recently returned from Nebraska, has been helping the family stack sandbags since the weekend. “It came up so slowly, so there was a lot of time to prepare. I know that if I can take a boat down the street, it’s pretty bad,” said Gamage. Despite such a hard reality, the family is in a positive spirit, having fun boating around the neighborhood and fishing from their home. Said Gamage, “You’ve got to see the positive, else everyone’s all stressed and that’s no good.” Sandquist chimes in, “I’m happy – at least I don’t have to mow the lawn.”

Southeastern Missouri Flooding ~ Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Our apartment began flooding on Easter, alerting us to the gravity of the flooding situation in the Cape Girardeau and Southeastern Missouri areas. Due to weeks of stormy weather, the area rivers and other bodies of water have swelled, leaving countless of people struggling to save their homes and loved ones. Yesterday, I covered the flooding from Cape Girardeau, Essex and Poplar Bluff.

Long time no post! I do most of my blogging now on MacklerMedia.com, you should head on over or subscribe to blog updates.

Anyways, last year, I documented the relief efforts in Nashville after the Cumberland River flooded the area in early May.

On Saturday, May 1, 2010, the banks of the Cumberland River near Nashville, Tenn., were breached due to torrential rainfall. After the water level reached over 20 feet in the intersection of Todd Preis Drive and Sawyer Brown Road in the Nashville suburb of Bellevue, the area was evacuated by boat on Sunday, May 2, 2010. Residents returned later in the week to gut their homes and move on with their lives.

Now a year later . . . Where are they? How are they coping? What obstacles have they overcome? Yet to overcome?

With your help on Kickstarter.com, I’d like to answer these questions.

What exactly is Kickstarter? Good question! According to their site, “Kickstarter is the largest funding platform for creative projects in the world. Every month, tens of thousands of amazing people pledge millions of dollars to projects from the worlds of music, film, art, technology, design, food, publishing and other creative fields . . .On Kickstarter, a project must reach its funding goal before time runs out or no money changes hands. Why? It protects everyone involved. Creators aren’t expected to develop their project without necessary funds, and it allows anyone to test concepts without risk.”

All contributions to this project will go directly towards travel and production expenses. The project will culminate in the publication of a documentary photo book recording the Nashville flood relief efforts.

Currently, the modest goal of $1,800 is budgeted towards four or five days of on-location work in Nashville, and will go mostly towards travel expenses (gas, lodging, etc.), as well as materials needed for the book.

Not only an experiment in storytelling, I hope this will also be a successful endeavor in exploring a new way to fund community journalism in this new age of online media.

Please join me as I experiment with a new way to fund journalism & be rewarded with exclusive prints, posters and other goodies!

Thanks for your support!

Kristin and I recently launched our freelance website, MacklerMedia.com. You should check it out.

About MacklerMedia:

MacklerMedia is a partnership between photojournalists Chris Mackler and Kristin Eberts. Both have recently graduated from Ohio University, earning Bachelor of Science degrees in Visual Communication, majoring in photojournalism.

Chris is a freelance photographer in the Southeast Missouri area; Kristin is a Staff Photographer for the Southeast Missourian. Chris and Kristin’s work has been published in The Post (Athens, Ohio), College 101 magazine, The Elkhart Truth (Elkhart, Ind.), the South Bend Tribune (South Bend, Ind.), The Gazette (Cedar Rapids, Iowa), The Muskegon Chronicle (Muskegon, Mich.), The Associated Press, Roady’s Hometown Truck Stop Magazine, and the Southeast Missourian (Cape Girardeau, Mo.)

We are currently accepting work in the Southern Illinois and Southeastern Missouri region and beyond. We specialize in photographing weddings, portraits, sports, events, and music/bands. If you have a photographic need we look forward to hearing from you!

After the water level reached to over 20 feet in intersection of Todd Preis Drive and Sawyer Brown Road in the Nashville suburb of Bellevue, the area was evacuated by boat on Sunday, May 2, 2010. Residents of Todd Preis Drive, where the River Plantation housing community is located, returned later in the week to gut their own homes and try to move on with their lives. Initially a retirement community, River Plantation is still approximately 75% retirees, said current resident Faye Nall. The disaster appears to have “created a sense of cohesiveness” within the community, said Nall. Young and old, those that have lost homes and those that have not, have all come together to help rebuild.

These images are available for editorial licensing. Use Coupon code “BLOG10″ for 10% off.

Nashville Flood Recovery – Images by Chris Mackler

Mike Peiffer holds open a hot air balloon named The Tinker-Too to let the air in at the Balloon Glow held on the grounds of the Brucemore Mansion on Thursday, June 25, 2009. The event was part of the Freedom Festival. (Chris Mackler/The Gazette).

From left to right, Jim Thomas, Joan Nickol, Carla Huber and David Peiffer stabilize a hot air balloon named The Tinker-Too during the beginning of the Balloon Glow held on the grounds of the Brucemore Mansion on Thursday, June 25, 2009. The event was part of the Freedom Festival. (Chris Mackler/The Gazette).

Hot air balloons glow in the sky at the Balloon Glow held on the grounds of the Brucemore Mansion on Thursday, June 25, 2009. Six hot air balloons participated in the event. (Chris Mackler/The Gazette).

Cedar Rapids Prairie’s Zach Brunscheen grabs the shirt of Iowa City West’s Alan Bedell as they both go after the ball in the second half of the Class 2A substate soccer match held at Cedar Rapids Kennedy on Monday, June 1, 2009. West advanced to state with a 4-1 victory. (Chris Mackler/The Gazette).

And how it appeared in the print edition: