We had the distinct privilege to go and perform emergency service during the Midwest's extreme flooding in the summer of 2008. We traveled from Sarasota, FL to Cedar Rapids, IA and within the hour we arrived we were hard at work to save property and homes that had been badly flooded. What we found over the course of the month we spent in Iowa was the people we helped were some of the nicest, hard working, patriotic, and genuinely good hearted we had ever met. We worked long days and some long nights to help as many families as we could in the time we had in town. We will never forget the look of surprise and the genuine thanks people gave us when they found out we drove 1400 miles to help them in their time of need. Some people even called us "hero's", we just smiled, said thank you and went back to work with a further appreciation of the job we were doing. We received a warm welcome from the local ServiceMaster Clean franchise and in the end they threw us a going away party. Everyone who worked with us during this time took something away from the experience that will not soon be forgotten. We were welcomed into homes and hearts alike, eating dinner with families on nothing more than the bare floor of what was once their living room. It was truly a painful sight to see these people lose everything, but at the same time uplifting to see they didn't lose their spirit or will to rebuild. We learned the true value of the Red Cross, The Salvation Army, and local churches which fed us hot meals many of the days we were working. Our thoughts and prayers will be with the people of Cedar Rapids for a long time, and for some of us the rest of our lives. I can personally say that I will visit Cedar Rapids in the future and I look forward to seeing the city returned to what it once was. -Jason Haynes, General Manager
Over the course of four and a half weeks we dried structures, cut out contaminants, removed flooring, dry wall, carpet, appliances, cabinets, sinks, and disinfected the entire inside of homes using antimicrobial agents and special paint sealers. In many cases we preformed these tasks without the use of electricity or running water.
