Mood:
happyTopic: uplifting
Aftermath
”See mom, that strip of red proves there is a Dairy Queen for fish!”
The Cedar River is a quiet body of water. It flows through the middle of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. There is an island big enough to house the city government buildings. Sometimes snow runoff up north and/or rain brings the water up to flood level. But the seawalls and levees are designed to a height to protect everything from these annual high water levels.
Then came the Spring and Summer of 2008. No one knew the water could get that high. The island disappeared. A railroad bridge with a string of loaded cars collapsed. This created an artificial dam. Add to the mix the fact that it rained enough to make Noah proud.
At its height, it all but covered the Dairy Queen on First Avenue. That opening statement is not an exaggeration. There was, at most, two feet of its famous red roof above the water line. This business is five blocks from the river on the west side.
The damage was extensive. Here is a very short list.
Main Library: At least eight feet deep on the main floor. It’s one block from
the east side of the river.
Clark Gas Station: A partially filled tank broke through the concrete and
floated away. This business is located five blocks away on the
west side.
Major furniture store: Water to second floor, located right on the east side
river bank.
County Jail: Located on the island, will take a year to repair. It is less than
ten years old.
Mercy Hospital – Water covered first floor. Building had to be evacuated.
It’s located nine blocks from the river on the east side.
8,000 – 9,000 buildings have to be razed. There are broken windows and doors in all the downtown buildings. The buildings are standing but otherwise it looks like ground zero. There were few if any fatalities, little or no looting.
Maybe by next year, it will again look like home. Cedar Rapids now knows the effects of a slow tsunami. This flood exceeded the cities five hundred year plan. The previous record flood level was 18.0 feet. This year it hit 32.0 feet. We got wet.
