I'm examining the hydrograph for Cedar River at Cedar Falls now...and you're at 95.13 feet as of 8:00 AM this morning. Still 7.134 feet above flood threshold. By June 17th, it is predicted you'll be at Moderate flood status (much better than now). And by June 19th, you'll be at Flood Stage if no further precip events happen...
I thought I had responded already, but things are a blur.
Although Cedar Rapids (being the second largest city in IA) is getting more press, both it and Cedar Falls (and Iowa City) were hit to generally the same degree.
To put things in perspective, Cedar Rapids flood level is 20ft, and our 1993 flood was 24 feet. The water crested in CR at 31.12ft on Friday.
To illustrate, here is a picture of Mays Island in CR:
The taller bridge in the pics is I-380, which goes from Iowa City to Cedar Falls/Waterloo. It stayed open, but all other roads connecting the two sides of the river for miles around were closed by Thursday evening and did not re-open until Sunday. However, I-380 was closed north of Iowa City from Firday and yesterday, and the detour was 281 miles long.
We're all starting the recovery process. Both Cedar Falls and Cedar Rapids are on water restrictions, as our water pumping stations are damaged (some pumps were/are underwater).
The link above has some good shots of the devastation, I can't put it into words. Some businesses were able to return to pick up important papers on Monday, and some took photos that are now on the site.
400+ city blocks are/were under water, and they are pegging the CR damage to be ~750million.
If getting a Wikipedia page is a badge of honor, so be it:
They have some reference pictures on the Wikipedia page that shows the difference as well from May's Island's perspective.
As for us, we're 2 miles away from the river, so we're only indirectly affected. But, we've used the TC as a lifeline for a few days. When there were severe water restrictions, we showered and latrined in the TC. So, another use for an RV.
As for others not in the area, we lost a lot of the corn crop, it is expected, so corn-based items will no doubt rise in price. As well, they shut down I-80 around Iowa City, which is a large shippig route. The detour was supposed to go just south of CR, but that could not be done, so they ended up sending truckers all the way to Dubuque, over to I-35, and down to DesMoines. It added quite a few miles to any shipment across IA.
brain wrote: I thought I had responded already, but things are a blur.
As for us, we're 2 miles away from the river, so we're only indirectly affected. But, we've used the TC as a lifeline for a few days. When there were severe water restrictions, we showered and latrined in the TC. So, another use for an RV.
Jim
Glad to know that you are safe and dry. I hope life returns to a more normal state quickly for the residents affected by the flooding.
Sally
& my DH Karl
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