Rhett Emons, a Marian University baseball player and Secondary Education major, experienced flash flooding at his home in West Allis, Wisconsin at the end of the summer. The sophomore applied lessons learned at Marian and, with help from some of his teammates, started the clean-up. This is his story in his own words.
Water started flowing into the street at about two in the morning. I was alerted by my neighbors who were yelling outside. I tried to rescue my car, but it was too late. It was a very tense situation, because as I was trying to drive the car to safety, my engine shut off and my doors wouldn’t budge. I had to crawl out my window and work my way through the water back to my house. Then my family and I checked our basement, which was already flooding. The flooding didn’t stop until about 4 am. Our basement was completely flooded. Our street was completely flooded. Our entire block was shocked.
As the water started to drain and it was deemed safe, I tried to unclog any drains that were visible. I also checked in on multiple elderly neighbors who could be at risk. Once all the water was gone, we started to deem what was a loss, which was 99 percent of the basement. Both my car and my mom’s car were completely totaled in the flooding.
We have cleared out our basement, the entire carpet, and all the walls. I have been helping my family as much as possible, doing whatever I can to help around the house. I have also been helping my community. I have been helping my neighbors clean their basements and move large appliances to the dumpster.
I put in many hours helping others the week of the flood. And this is only the start. It’s going to be a very long road to be fully recovered.
Baseball Coach (Jordan) Baitinger and Coach (Bryan) Burgert at Marian University were two coaches that really made an impact on my decision making. They’re constant preaching of do the little things right, and building connections.
A quote that has stuck with me was from our post-game talk after our last game of the year (a tough 1-2 loss to Aurora University). Coach Baitinger said, “I hope this past year has taught you all to always take the harder route.” That quote has stuck with me every day since. What can I do to push myself even further, how can I stay on the “hard route?”
In this case, the hard route chose me and I had no say in it. But instead of venturing off course, I stayed the path and didn’t veer off course.
Also, there are the upperclassmen who have inspired me. Seniors last year Tanner Alsteen, Logan Rademan, and Gus Walker, who constantly displayed our “grit” mindset, helped me push through the tough labor that I endured and the mental problems that I was facing. Those problems being that I lost so much stuff and that it will take my family a few years to get everything back to somewhat normal.
Two other Sabres came by and helped me and my family through this tough time – Marc Jones and Patrick Flynn. Many other teammates reached out, checking in on me and my family.
My neighbors in West Allis have been calling this the “1000-year flood.” Using what I’ve learned at Marian, and through lessons passed down by my coaches and upperclassmen of past and present, I’m confident I can keep having a positive impact to my community.
To learn more about Sabre Athletics, visit: https://sabreathletics.com/
