On Main Street in Rock Valley, Joan Rozeboom and her daughter, Brittany Westra, watched as a tractor with a bucket and claw picked up damaged items — cowhide furniture, drywall, insulation, flood-soaked clothing in plastic tubs — from outside their boutique, Copper Rose Apparel.
The shop was a dream he made a reality two years ago with the help of a COVID-19 stimulus check. When he saw the devastation on Monday, he said he would work to reopen the boutique.
“We’re thinking, yes, we’re doing this, and it’s not as much work as the first time,” Ms. Rozeboom said. “But the more we dig, the more we find it’s still a lot of work.”
Elsewhere in Rock Valley, where receding waters Monday left a swampy stench that lingered even in 90-degree heat, the Blix couple, who struggled to get to safety Saturday, looked at the damage to their home.
The mud completely froze the recliner, mattress and table. It was a total loss.
But on the ground floor of the home, they found an urn containing the ashes of their daughter, Haley, who died in a car crash last year at age 35, safe.
“When we got here, I said, ‘Randy, we’ve got Haley.’” “That was the only thing I was really worried about,” Ms. Blick said.
Lauryn Higgins Contributed reporting from North Sioux City, S.D.