Government Technology

Flood Management and Rebuilding Plans Help Iowa Town Recover


Danforth Chapel on the grounds of the University of Iowa is surrounded by floodwaters from the Iowa River/Photo by Greg Henshall/FEMA
Danforth Chapel on the grounds of the University of Iowa is surrounded by floodwaters from the Iowa River.

August 26, 2009 By

When a forecast for record flooding was announced in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, during the second week of June 2008, nobody could have predicted the impending disaster's magnitude. The Cedar River crested June 13, nearly 20 feet above flood stage and 11 feet above the 79-year-old record. Previous flooding in 1993 seemed, in retrospect, to be nothing more than damp basements and sewer backups.

The city pulled together to ensure uninterrupted service delivery to its residents throughout the incident, and an immediate recovery program was established. Local first responders had trained for decades because a small nuclear power plant, the Duane Arnold Energy Center, was only nine miles away. Consequently the public safety response resulted in no deaths or serious injuries. Thousands of residents and their pets were either rescued or evacuated.

Photo: The railroad tried to prevent this bridge from being pulled off its pilings by weighing it down with train cars filled with gravel. The attempt was futile as the Iowa River's strength during the flood was too much/Photo by Susie Shapira/FEMA

Fifth-Worst Natural Disaster

Cedar Rapids is located in east-central Iowa and is home to 122,000. The Cedar River bisects the city, and in early June 2008 flooding consumed 10 square miles -- 14 percent of the city. Water filled the first floor of high-rise downtown office buildings and historic brick storefronts.

More than 5,000 of the city's approximately 40,000 residential structures succumbed to the sewage- and debris-filled floodwater. Approximately 1,300 of those structures are beyond repair, and property owners are seeking demolition and buyout of their damaged properties. Evacuations over the course of two days displaced more than 18,000 residents and 9,000 employees. While these bare numbers may describe the magnitude of this disaster, they fail to illustrate the event's impact on the community's residents and businesses.


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