June 18, 2008 9:10PM

Mud, Sweat and Tears

By Jeff Flock

There are lots of reporters and crews out in the flood zone. But we like to try and tell you something you don’t already know or show you something you haven’t already seen. I think that’s what you’ll get in our Fox Business News Special: “Mud, Sweat and Tears: Stories from the Flood,” which airs this weekend on the Fox Business Network. Here is a sneak peak at a few characters you’ll meet.

HENRY LaBRIE is the owner of a company called FloodMasters. Based in Beaumont, Texas, he has a fleet of 6 18-wheeler semi trailers full of dehumidifiers, fans, disinfectant and other more sophisticated tools of the disaster recovery trade. Many of the businesses in downtown Cedar Rapids have hired Henry and his team to help them dry out and clean up from the Cedar River flood. One building owner told me he chose Henry because he was willing to work with him on price while other disaster recovery firms quoted just a flat rate. But I think it may have been Henry’s perfectly-manicured fu manchu mustache and Texas drawl and his hands-on approach to making flood debris disappear. Decide for yourself after meeting Henry in our special.

CHARLES WHITEMAN is Senior Associate Dean in the college of economics at the University of Iowa. In addition to stacking a mean sandbag or two against the rising Iowa River, Whiteman also has some interesting perspective on the flood that inundated 19 buildings and shut down the university and is now making its way down the Mississippi. Whiteman, who has a PhD from the University of Minnesota and specializes on impact studies did some extensive research on the 1993 Mississippi flood. He says while the economy may take a short-term hit from this disaster, it figures to boost economic growth as time goes by. Lots of new re-building to do and new things to buy to replace all the stuff out at the curbs in places like Cedar Rapids, Iowa City and the Mississippi river towns now getting the worst of the water.

That’s got to be good news to STEVE EMERSON. I mentioned him the other night as the “Donald Trump of Cedar Rapids”. Steve owns ten buildings in the downtown Cedar Rapids flood zone. He just put 3 million into renovating the Paramount Theatre office building…restoring one of the gems of old Cedar Rapids. It and all the others lost the flood fight…despite his best efforts to pump and sandbag. Though these are multi-milion dollar properties his insurance only covers $25,000 of damage on all the buildings put together. Steve started as an architect before starting to buy distressed buildings in the now-thriving downtown.

GARY SHEDD farms corn and soybeans in the Illinois town of Rockton, Illinois. He walked us out in a 100 acre corn field partly swallowd by the Rock River. Shedd’s crop isn’t a total loss. He has other corn acres on higher ground. But he’s what they call “forward-contracted” a lot of it already. That means, when corn shot up to $4 a bushel on the futures markets earlier this year he sold much of it in advance of the harvest. That was an all-time high. No need to be greedy. Now with corn futures around $8 a bushel if only he hadn’t sold some and hadn’t been wiped out from the flood he’d almost be rich. Speaking of rich and in case Shedd, sounds like a familiar name, Gary is indeed a distant relative of John G. Shedd, benefactor of the aquarium that bears his name in Chicago. The elder Shedd was a former president and chairman of the board of the Marshall Field and Company back around the turn of the century. Gary says Mr. Shedd donated $3M to build the John G. Shedd aquarium in part because he loved to fish. Ironically that’s what’s swimming in Gary Shed’s cornfield right now.

I hope you just learned something you didn’t already know. For more, watch us this weekend: “Mud, Sweat and Tears: Stories From the Flood”.
Air time to be announced shortly.