By: Brian DeLoche, Communications Volunteer

Paxton, Illinois — If someone were looking for a small town to be the setting for a romantic holiday movie or a portrait of Americana in the style of Norman Rockwell, Paxton just might be that place.

But on Thursday, August 13, and the days that followed, the county seat of Ford County was anything but picturesque.

Paxton, a town not nestled on the banks of any river, creek or stream, or built along any lakeshore, experienced damaging flooding.

Torrential rains caused flash flooding that left many of the townsfolk’s basements inundated by rainwater and sewers backed-up throughout the town. Others were also left with damaged foundations and collapsed basement walls.

At the Paxton Emergency Response Service building, the rain gauge, monitored by the National Weather Service, at one point showed rain falling at a rate of 4 inches per hour.

More than 11 inches of rain fell between Thursday evening and the middle of Friday afternoon. When the rain stopped and the skies cleared for a while, residents had hope that it was all over.

But the rain began again on Saturday and continued into Sunday, dropping another three inches on the already saturated community.

Drenched by more than 14 inches of rain in four days, with more homes impacted than not, village leaders met on Monday and issued a disaster declaration. Calls for help went out to any agency that could provide it.

Paxton’s pleas for help eventually made their way to the American Red Cross, and on Thursday, a 24-foot box truck arrived to unload disaster supplies.

From totes to tarps, work gloves to trash bags, buckets to bleach — cleanup supplies were distributed to impacted residents as they faced the difficult task of cleaning up their homes and beginning the road to recovery.

The Red Cross also delivered food boxes that had been filled and donated by volunteers at Midwest Food Bank in Morton, Illinois; another example of how community partners work alongside the Red Cross to help neighbors when disaster strikes.

The supplies delivered to Paxton proved to be more than enough to meet the town’s immediate needs. With surplus cleanup kits and food boxes still on hand, Paxton donated the excess supplies to nearby Gibson City, where residents were also reeling from the effects of record rainfall and flash flooding.

A Summer of Responding

The response in Paxton is one of many that Red Cross volunteers have supported across the region during a relentless summer of severe weather.

From tornadoes and damaging winds to flash flooding and prolonged power outages, volunteers have repeatedly answered the call—opening shelters, providing meals and emergency supplies, assessing damage and helping families take their first steps toward recovery.

Each community and each disaster is different, but the commitment remains the same: when our neighbors need help, Red Cross volunteers stand ready to be there.

And we can’t do this work alone. Community partners like Midwest Food Bank, local emergency management agencies, first responders, government officials, donors and volunteers all play an important role in helping communities respond and recover.

For families in Paxton, Gibson City and so many other communities impacted by severe weather this summer, the skies may have cleared, but recovery can take much longer. The Red Cross will continue to stand alongside communities as they move forward.
 

Be There When Help Is Needed

Behind every Red Cross response are volunteers willing to answer the call—sometimes in their own hometowns and sometimes hundreds of miles away.
 

You can be one of them. Whether helping families after a disaster, supporting a shelter, delivering emergency supplies or lending your skills in another way, there is a place for you in the Red Cross mission.
 

Join us. RedCross.org/Volunteer