Iowa State, home of Cyclones and Floods

• Ames woke up in 1993 Wednesday morning. Maybe worse. It's hard to believe the video and pictures from Ames, a city under water, and without water. Those of us dealing with a damp basement now fully realized how fortunate we are compared to those in Ames, Four Mile Creek, Altoona, Colfax-Mingo and other flooded areas.
• Hilton Coliseum was, perhaps, the most surreal sight. It looked like a giant dark pool inside, and the court was floating in eight feet of water.
• When I talked to Iowa State head coach Fred Hoiberg, he was trapped at home. Hoiberg tried to reach Iowa State, but kept running into police road blocks set up to prevent people from driving into dangerous areas. Turn around, don't drown.
• ISU women's coach Bill Fennelly told me he choked up and fought back tears when he saw the court and offices at Hilton. Fennelly also realizes materials can be replaced, people can't.
• No football team in America worked harder than Iowa State Wednesday morning. Instead of practicing, the Cyclones sandbagged for hours. Everyone in Iowa, fans of all teams, cheer that effort.
• Channel 13's Shawn Terrell was supposed to spend the day at his desk working on RVTV plans. Instead, he spent it all in Ames doing a terrific job of reporting on the flooding. I think Shawn's glad he went. He says it's something you had to see with your own eyes to believe. I think that's what was hard for some people in non-flooded areas, it seemed like just another day. It wasn't.