Midwest Flooding

[Mr_Eddy]

Maybe some of you have heard about the flooding going on in the Midwest.

We're getting hit pretty hard here in Cedar Rapids and all other communities along the Cedar River and Des Moines River.

The downtown area and all other areas along the river in Cedar Rapids are closed and mandatory evacuations are in place. Many houses and business along the river are now partially under water, and the river is expected to rise another two feet over the next day.

We walked around downtown this afternoon before it was closed off to the public and snapped a few pictures.

The first picture below shows one of three bridges that cross the Cedar River in the downtown area. The river in this picture is at it's normal level. Where this picture is taken from is now under water. The second picture is of the same bridge, just a slightly different angle. The third one shows the Alliant Energy building and if you look, you can see the bridges laying right on top of the water. The last one was taken from I-380 that goes through the downtown area on an elevated bridge.







I've got several more pictures that I will post to Picasa as soon as I put some captions on them so you'll have a bit of information.

Here's a link to a Google Satellite Map showing the Cedar Rapids downtown area and the three bridges.

This flood isn't going to hit our house. We're quite a ways from the river. My dad however lives right on the river north of here in Cedar Falls. Last time he saw his house on Monday morning, the water was just starting to lap up onto the deck. It's risen 2-3 feet since then. The current is so strong, he's afraid it will just pick the house up off the garage and float it downstream. There's no way to even get in the area right now to see if it, and his neighbors houses are still there.

[KatieBug27]

oh my! That is so scary! I will definitely pray for your family! Stay safe! Where is your dad staying?

[Otto the egg]

if their was only some way to divert all this water to the drought stricken states in the south. Scary stuff... I wouldn't want to stand on one of those bridges with that much water running under them... that's a good way to find yourself rafting down the river.

[Buglover]

I was wondering how you were doing out that way. I remember back in the 60's, We went downtown in Moline,Il. and filled sandbags for weeks on end. Stay off that bridge.

[Fowvay]

My Mom is originally from Cedar Rapids and we were just talking about this. We were getting hourly reports from my great Aunt on where the water was now etc. Thanks for the pics and update.

[Ghia_Roadster]

cedar rapids is right.....

[Mr_Eddy]

Well, it's bad.

Where I was taking pictures downtown yesterday is now 6-7 feet under water.

All of the bridges crossing the river in town, with the exception of the Interstate are completely under water. A train bridge collapsed.

The previous record for the river level was 20 feet. Right now, it's about 30 feet and expected to crest at 31.8 feet Friday.

Several thousand houses and businesses are under water.

I uploaded the pictures I took Wednesday to Picasa. I couldn't get any today due to the entire area being closed. Local news stations have quite a few and some videos.
http://www.kcrg.com/younews?cid=71591
http://www.kwwl.com/Global/category.asp?C=139351

Holly and I spent several hours filling sandbags to help our neighbors. There is a small creek across the street from us that hasn't done anything until late this morning. It started backing up due to the river being so full and came way out of it's banks. We sandbagged the back of the houses along the creek. Our place is safe because we're up a hill on the other side of the street.

My dads house is apparently still there, but he had about 5 feet of water in the main level. Everything he left behind is destroyed. He got out early Monday and has been in Des Moines all week. He has plenty of places to stay when he gets back. (Thanks for asking Katie)

And to top it all off, it's still raining.

I can't imagine how long it will take to recover from this.

[callisto9]

Sorry to hear about your dad's place, Ed. Glad he's ok though.

I've been hearing about this off an on all week. We've got some flooding here, and esp right now due to the rain, but nothing as bad as Cedar Rapids. I know our marketing and branding company, HRB, is out of commission due to their building location.

Stay safe!

[KatieBug27]

keep us updated! It was on our news tonight! That is so scary! I just hope it stops raining! Im glad your dad is ok! I hope everyone around there has flood insurance! That truly will be a tragedy if they dont!

[Ikkin]

Back in 87 our area flooded, filling sand bags, helping everyone out, tough work, i know.

Hope everyone stays healthy and safe.

Our trains are all stuck to, when the folks want to know why their freight isn't arriving.... i'm always amazed how they do not know what is going on in other parts of the states.

Stay Safe, so sorry to hear about your Dad's house.

[callisto9]

Here's a baseball field close to my house. And a creek in the town I live in. No danger where I am, just water in the basement, as usual.

[KatieBug27]

thats crazy erin! My grandmas house backs up to a creek and its always cool to go out in the rain and watch the creek rise! Its amazing how quickly it will rise!

[callisto9]

Originally Posted by KatieBug27

thats crazy erin! My grandmas house backs up to a creek and its always cool to go out in the rain and watch the creek rise! Its amazing how quickly it will rise!

It's always fun to watch, as long as it's not your house that's underwater! Duck Creek here floods all the time. It's kind-of an event to go see "if the creek's up".

[KatieBug27]

Originally Posted by callisto9

It's always fun to watch, as long as it's not your house that's underwater! Duck Creek here floods all the time. It's kind-of an event to go see "if the creek's up".

thats exactly how my grandmas is too! shes lived there since the 60's and its never flooded!

[Lmhansen]

I have in-laws in Iowa ...
Perhaps I should check what the voicemail from my brother-in-law is all about!

[KatieBug27]

yeah, you probally should! Hope they arent flooded!

[Ghia_Roadster]

wow... ots hot and dry here in arkansas....

[Mr_Eddy]

Thanks everybody.

I took over 100 pictures today. I'm working on uploading them now. I'm going to try and use Google Earth to Geotag them so you can see what it's suppose to look like at that location. Might take me a couple days.

Here's a couple quick ones taken from the I-380 overpass again.

The first one is looking right down the middle of the river downtown. The building in the middle is Veterans Memorial Coliseum and is actually located on an island in the middle of the river. This is the same building that is seen in the first photo in the first post.



This next one is just to the right of the Vets building and is looking down the river. Note the three bridges are completely covered. If you look, you can see where they are by the big ripples.



All our neighbors places stayed dry due to the sandbagging. So it was time well spent.

[my99vdub]

Please keep us posted and let us know if we can help - unfortunately from a distance (too bad the NBs don't float like the AC bugs)
Mother Nature is a force to be reckoned with as your pics show - yikes, I'd rather have to deal with 4 feet of snow!

[dnyed]

I have heard that every county in Iowa has been proclaimed a disaster area.

I hope all of my Iowa friends and their families are OK.


Erin, why don't I have your #?