Without the levee, the Nauvoo House would have been standing in four feet of water. (photo by Christin Mackay)

Building Community
One Sandbag at a Time

During recent Mississippi River flooding, the historic Nauvoo House was threatened by rising water. Built in the 1840s, it was to be both a hotel and the home of Joseph and Emma Smith.

A 450-foot levee protects the building from flooding. On June 13, forecasts predicted that water would reach the top of the levee, so staff at the Joseph Smith Historic Site decided to take protective measures. Within two hours of the first phone call asking for assistance, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers representative arrived to form a plan of action. He advised adding two feet to the height of the levee by heaping sand on top and then covering the sand with large sheets of plastic. Sandbags would be used on both sides of the levee to hold the plastic in place.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which also operates historic sites in Nauvoo, donated and transported tons of sand. The first day of the project, about 50 volunteers shoveled sand, tied bags, and rolled out the plastic. They included the BYU Folk Dancers and the Bevell family, who were staying in the Nauvoo House. With the help of the volunteers and site staff, the entire levee was raised in just over three hours.

The Cedar Valley-Nauvoo Reunion opened on the second day of the effort. John Robertson, pastor of the Farmington, Iowa, congregation and a former National Guardsman with years of flood-fighting experience, directed the efforts to “chimney up” leaks as they developed. Chimney structures, made from sandbags, contain leaks and allow water to rise inside until it reaches the same level as the flooding river.

Reunion attendees generously offered to be on call throughout the week. As the water continued to rise, they filled sandbags, built chimneys, and reinforced the levee. They also walked the levee to watch for leaks, or “boils,” and provided three meals a day to those monitoring the levee.

Once the levee had been raised and the initial leaks contained, the task became one of watching and waiting. The crest was projected to break the record set in 1993, and as the water continued to rise, the levee required 24-hour surveillance. When the water was four inches shy of the record in Nauvoo, levees upstream began to burst and the river dropped almost a foot before rising again.

The second crest passed and the river began to drop again almost one week after flood preparations began. The Nauvoo House was not damaged. A few hours later, the Cedar Valley-Nauvoo Reunion drew to a close.

—Maggie Bennett reporting