After the Flood: Rock Valley Family Rebuilds with Help from REALTORS® Relief Foundation

There was rain in the forecast for Rock Valley, Iowa on June 21, 2024. Dawn DeWit came home from her custodial job at the school that afternoon to find a tag on the door recommending that her family evacuate, though there was no mandatory order to do so. 

This warning was nothing out of the ordinary for Dawn and her family, who had lived on their property close to the river for 27 years. 

“We knew the routine,” she recalled. “We actually ended up on the ‘wrong side of the berm’ several times. This time there was a permanent berm placed after the flood of 2018, so we were anxious to see how we were going to fare.” 

Dawn went about her usual routine, preparing to fulfill several cupcake orders. 

“We have always watched the flood stage numbers very closely and felt no immediate danger at all actually,” she said. “We knew how much we could handle. I knew that we would lose electricity and I had several cupcake orders, so instead of moving anything upstairs or onto paint cans as we have done before, I turned on the oven to bake.” 

Then the rain began. Dawn went to the backyard to check the river, then the National Weather Service predictors and stages. She said a little prayer and went back to baking. 

“Suppertime came and I thought that I better find my guys,” she said of her husband and two sons. “I found them sandbagging as much of the town was. The night progressed and the rain continued.”

Her husband, Matt received a call from dispatch and left on the wrecker call. Shortly after leaving, he called Dawn to let her know not to wait up and worry about him. There was some flash flooding in the area. 

“When he returned around midnight, he was scared to death,” she said. “The call he had been on was to rescue a woman who was having a stroke and was stuck in the flash flooding. He had gone through some nasty stuff to help her, but it was only a snippet of what was to come.” 

Matt walked to the river, checked the NWS stages and then he and Dawn went to bed. 

“Things were going to be fine,” Dawn said. “No more than 25 minutes later our dogs were barking.The water was throwing tree limbs into the side of our home. The water was breaking out windows. The river was rushing into the house. We figured our basement was full in less than four minutes.” 

The same basement where her 20 year old son was sleeping.  

“When I got to him he was floating on his mattress, still fast asleep,” Dawn recalls. “ We had no time.” 

Leaving proved to be a challenge in itself, but the family was able to drive their big pickup trucks off the property. 

But then Matt stopped. 

“I had no idea why, I could not see anything from where I was behind him, it was raining so hard,” Dawn said. “What he was doing was picking up a lady who was trying to walk, the water was past her waist. Her husband was an EMT and was at the fire station after sandbagging. They had no idea that the water was flooding the town.” 

The emergency personnel sounded the sirens, while the DeWit’s headed up the hill to a friend’s home. 

“We could have gone to a church but thought that our two hunting dogs would not handle that well,” she said. “Eventually, after I went back to wake up some friends I went to sleep in the back of my pickup.” 

Over the next days, weeks and months, the DeWits continued to face challenge after challenge. 

“We had to start over. We lost everything,” Dawn said. “ During the first days after the flood there were so many unknowns.” 

Dawn’s sister, a REALTOR® in the area, helped the family as they looked to find financial support to move forward, whether that meant buying necessities or finding lodging. 

Among FEMA, SBA, and local aid programs, the REALTORS® Relief Foundation (RRF) stood out. Unlike the impersonal red tape of other assistance, the RRF offered compassion, understanding, and most importantly—immediate stability.

Dawn’s oldest son, who had also lived in the basement, decided to take the step to purchase a home. In his quick search, aided by his aunt, he found a property the Friday following the flood.

“We were able to move in Friday,” Dawn said. “The owner agreed to rent the home to us at first. The REALTORS® Relief Funds paid our rent that first month, before the purchase was finalized.

Our children were able to call somewhere home. Our youngest has autism, so change is huge for him. Just being able to get on track, even for our son who bought the home. He wasn’t planning to buy tomorrow, but he did. Just the reality of there’s always going to be bills to pay, the reality that we had some help with that.“

In November, the family received a temporary FEMA trailer. After deciding they wouldn’t go back to their previous property where the home was unsalvageable, Dawn and Matt took the steps to begin building anew across town. 

“My thought was I was going back home,” she said. “ I wasn’t ever thinking that I’d build something else.”

In January, the family moved into the new home. 

“We are starting to feel like home,” she said. “We put so much time and effort into it ourselves, it costs a lot to build a home. We had friends and family help us. Putting the hard work into it, made it easier too, to say, ‘ I did that.’ It’s a beautiful home. We are grateful.” 

Even now, the first rain at the new house brings back memories of that terrifying night. But through it all, Dawn and her family remain grateful. They had help from family, friends, and the REALTORS® Relief Foundation, which provided crucial support to bridge the gap between devastation and stability.

“You’ve got these funds,” Dawn said. “Breathe a little bit. You have a roof over your head.” 

The REALTORS® Relief Foundation exists to help families like Dawn’s during times of unimaginable loss. While floods may wash away homes, they cannot wash away hope—and with support, families can rebuild stronger than before.