STEFANIE KOHN
While we were cleaning out from the flood in June of 2008, we realized that we needed to document this history as it was happening. Cause this was a major event happening to our city and to our museum and to our Czech neighborhoods. So we kind of came up with the idea that we had to start documenting it and knew we'd be putting an exhibition up somehow, but weren't really sure then, exactly what it would be or where it would be. And then the idea started forming more that we would be able to purchase this building here, in Czech Village and renovate it and put the exhibit in here.

JAN STOFFER
We do guided tours here of the exhibition, "Rising Above" story of the people and the flood, to middle school students elementary students, um, pre-school students, all the way up to adults. You know, it's a really diverse audience. But with every tour group I try to instill this idea that they need to be prepared for the worst. When they go into the flooded home, especially the 8 year olds, 8 and 9 year olds, their pretty overwhelmed. They don't have a lot to say. Their just taking it all in and it comes as a bit of a surprise to them that it's not like a bath. There's mud and everything's out of place and there's a dirt line on the wall and I think that surprises them. Adults come through and they have a totally different perspective on this and adults can walk into the home and say, Oh, this could be me. This could be my family, and they can see the pile of trash on the wall; the photograph of the pile of trash on the wall and they can say, This could be my stuff. 

I don't  think a lot of people think about what to do if the toilet overflows or if they have a water main break in their home or if the sewage backs up. Who do you call? Who helps you? And I think every, um, person should have a disaster plan for his or her home in addition to one for his or her business. Have a plan, walk yourself through it mentally a few times so it's not going to come as a big; What do I do now?

 You have an idea formulated in your head and you know how to precede. You never know when some thing is going to happen and if you know who to contract to help you clean up and help you recover from that, then you're going to have a much smoother recovery from any kind of horrible thing that may happen to your home. 

When they leave the exhibition, it is my hope that they leave knowing that disasters are horrible, disasters are personal and disasters effect individuals, not just a community as a whole. And while your community needs to be prepared for a disaster, every individual household also needs to be prepared for a disaster.

The lessons that we have learned can be taught to our visitors, they can take those lessons home and make disaster preparedness part of who they are as a family, share this knowledge with their friends and family and their community so that their not taken off-guard like we were. They can learn from what we've experienced.