Thanks, volunteers in flood areas

Flooding in areas along the Mississippi River north of St. Louis -- and particularly across most of Iowa -- is finally beginning to ease. This is good news for residents of the stricken areas, but those same residents now face the daunting task of cleaning up -- or choosing to move to higher ground, which is rarely an easy decision to make.

The receding floodwaters also means hundreds of citizen volunteers and members of the National Guard can get much needed rest after filling and placing sandbags virtually around the clock as the river crests moved higher and higher. Without their unflagging efforts, many more communities would have suffered far more severe damage from the flooding.

It is in times of peril when the best of human nature has opportunities to shine the brightest. To those individuals whose aching muscles and worn hands are the effects of battling the rising waters, we say thank you, words you no doubt have heard countless times in recent days.