The Mighty Mississippi is flooding parts of Andalusia, which is part of our school district. There was a post on social media during the week that called for volunteer help from the village, and being on spring break offered some available time to help out. This was my first experiencing sandbagging, and I quickly learned that it is not easy.
We started Friday morning, and I showed up in my overalls and my gloves with my shovel and asked for guidance. It didn't take long to figure out the basics of the task, so I found myself jumping in the "fun". What I learned later is that someone figured out a better system than previous years, which was to use big PVC tubes within a crate to more easily fill the bags. The first step then was to cover the six PVC tubes with sandbags, which consisted of opening the sandbag and sliding it over the tube. After all six tubes were covered, we then flipped the crate to expose the openings for the sand. With that second step completed, the third step was to use the shovels lift the sand from the pile into the tubes. Once filled step four consisted of the crate lifted up off of the bags. Step five was to carry the filled bags (usually about half filled) to folks who were tying the bags (step 6). After some time bending over to tie the bags, someone decided to put the filled bags on tables to save the backs of the individuals tying the bags.
I pause here because I later found out that a tight tie on the bags was very helpful, so while tying the bags may have been the least physical step, a tight tie was important later on in handling the bags.
The final step - step 7 - was to load the completed sandbag either onto a pallet or on to a trailer or truck that would then transport the bags to various parts of the village where they would be needed.
I filled sandbags like that from about 8:30 to 12:30 on Friday, and my back and legs suffered the rest of the day. I was really tired, so watching NCAA tournament basketball in my recliner was welcomed. Plus, Friday featured temps in the 30's, so I needed a hot, long shower to try to get the chill out of me.
I wasn't sure I was going to make it back for Saturday, but I pulled my sore legs and back out of the house and went back for more. I should mention now that partnering up with someone to fill the bags really went much quicker and more effective than trying to accomplish the task myself. So Saturday, I met a different partner, and we proceeded to once again fill as many sandbags as possible. He left around 10 a.m., and there was a call to head to the sewer plant outside of the village to build a sandbag wall. Having never participated in building a sandbag wall, I volunteered for that job; it was a break from the back-breaking work of filling sandbags.
While I don't think building a sandbag wall is rocket science, my guess is that having some experience helps, and there didn't seem to be much experience on the crew I was working with. Like anything else, we muddled along until we finally figured out a rhythm and a method of building the wall. The process was to lay down plastic, building the wall of sandbags up in a pyramid shape, and then cover the wall with the plastic. I don't know if our wall was built well enough or not. I guess I will find out. The method seemed to be similar to stacking hay bales. The sandbags were laid in layers and criscrossed with each layer. If the river does get high enough, I hope the work we did holds up.
I stayed with this crew through the most difficult phase of the project, but eventually, more crew members existed than were needed, so I went back to the garage to build more sandbags. I think I stayed maybe another ninety minutes before my body had enough. I quietly tapped out and exited a little before 2 p.m. The process of filling the sandbags actually went a little quicker when I returned from the sewer plant. A one-person end loader was brought in which eliminated the need to shovel the sand into the tubes, so that part of the process was more effective and less challenging on the back.
It's Sunday now. No sandbagging for me today. I'm sticking to the recliner and tournament basketball!
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