A Woodbury County Sheriff's deputy stood guard at the entrance road to the western Iowa town of 250 residents Sunday afternoon. From the inside out, the town almost looked like an island.
Clipboard in hand, he matched families with their addresses as Hornick residents drove in and out of their flooded town. They were allowed to re-enter between 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. to assess water damage. It had been four days since the town was evacuated when the West Fork Ditch of the Little Sioux River spilled over the levees.
By 7 p.m., quiet had fallen over the town tucked among expansive farmland. The main street, about 30 miles southeast of Sioux City, was quiet aside from a few firefighters still driving around, assessing damage. Hours earlier the town was lively with action as homeowners waded through water to retrieve more clothes from their homes and to check on their flooded basements.