<body><div><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=2QM7aY_0mv2BQJM00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2QM7aY_0mv2BQJM00" width="1200" height="600" >CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) - This week marks fifteen years since record flooding across Iowa, with Cedar River suffering the greatest impacts.Ten square miles of the city flooded, with about ten thousand Cedar Rapids residents having had to evacuate their homes. The damage of flooding and tornadoes in Iowa that summer ranked as the sixth worst disaster FEMA had every responded to, based on the estimated financial public assistance.GETTING ACROSS THE RIVER15 years ago there was only one way to get across the Cedar River in Linn County. Every other bridge was flooded. Only Interstate 380 was high enough to avoid the water. This was more than an inconvenience. It made it difficult for law enforcement, ambulances, and firefighters to get to both sides of Cedar Rapids quickly. One aspect of flood recovery has been ensuring there are more ways to cross the river if and when there’s another high-water event.“All we had was Interstate 380. Highway 100 wouldn’t have been open in the 2008 flood and we’re working on plans- we’re at the 30% design level for raising the 8th Avenue Bridge – a new bridge 15 feet higher. To go over the system. So the ultimate plan would be Highway 100, 380, and 8th Avenue. And 8th Avenue is really important because that’s how we get back and forth to maintain our system, maintain the pump station, work on these walls that we’re putting up,” said Rob Davis, the Cedar Rapids Flood Control Program Manager.The ‘Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act’ that passed in 2021 includes nearly a half-billion dollars for bridges. This is why Davis is confident federal funding will help pay for the reconstruction of the Eighth Avenue bridge.WHY DID MERCY MEDICAL CENTER FLOOD?During the flood of 2008 Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids experienced flooding - even though it was far from the Cedar River. The hospital had to close its emergency department and evacuate patients It flooded because underground sewers meant to take rainwater from our streets and laws and funnel them to the river start jamming because the river is too high.River water starts flowing into those underground tunnels - literally flooding the city from basements up. Rob Davis, the flood control manager for Cedar Rapids, said preventing this kind of flood is an expensive investment, but it’s worth it.“There’s a LOT of work going underground. And we’re fortunate. We’re not like Grand Forks… they are so flat and will have backups in their sewer system five miles away from the Red River. That’s why those gates are so important. You could put half your city underwater. That’s why in 2016 it was perfectly dry we did very well there. We were able to stop the river water and we didn’t have any rainwater. We had lots of rainwater in 2008 – four to five inches. We’ve gotta pump that. So we have to plan right now for temporary pumping while we’re building the pump stations. The biggest thing we can do just down the stream here at Czech Village we’ve already built the gates for the storm sewer system but there’s no pump station built. But there’s a detention basin built which an hold the water and then we can get some temporary pumps and pump that over the top. So we’re in a lot better shape than in 2008 because we’ve got several underground gates on the storm sewer system,” said Davis.FUNDING FLOOD CONTROLThe flood control project in its entirety through Cedar Rapids is estimated to cost more than 750 million dollars. The federal government has agreed to support protection on the east side of the Cedar River through downtown. That’s where there’s more development, more employers, and a higher dollar amount of investment to protect. But Cedar Rapids city leaders have said protecting just one side of the river from flooding is a non-starter.“We are committed to both sides of the river as a city. The Army Corps of Engineers is taking care of the east side and that side will get done and I can’t reiterate that enough the city is committed to both sides of the river and you can see it right here- we are mirroring what we’re doing on the west side with the east side right here and we will continue to do that. It will take longer because it’s not a federally funded project at this point, but we are committed to the west side, and doing it in a way that is sensitive to the neighborhood, environment, etc,” said Davis.Since the flood of 2008, Cedar Rapids has crafted a strategy to prevent the kind of flooding the kind of disaster that caused nearly 14 hundred jobs to be lost, 45 daycares to close permanently, and more than 400 people needing to be rescued by boat. The city has added levees, flood walls, and flood gates to stop the river from flooding above and below ground. This is an enormous undertaking, and it’s not yet fully funded.“Inflation’s been a challenge, and if we’re not going to build it today you’re trying to estimate that. I’m going to give you a range, we’re about between 60 and 70% funded right now. As I said we’re about 32% complete so we can get a lot more done than what we have done right now. And then everything we’re doing is verypurposeful so we’ll do underground gates and HESCO barriers so we can do a lot of protection if we can keep the stormwater system not flooding. We don’t have to finish 100% of the system to say we’re pretty well protected, said Davis.One place the city says it’s saved money relates to Edgewood Road Bridge. Elevating that bridge was a priority since during 2008 the only way to get across the river was Interstate 380. But with the completion of Highway 100, rebuilding Edgewood to be higher is no longer crucial.</div></body>

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Learning from History: The 2008 flood 15 years later

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) - This week marks fifteen years since record flooding across Iowa, with Cedar River suffering the greatest impacts. Ten square miles of the city flooded, with about ten thousand Cedar Rapids residents having had to evacuate their homes. The damage of flooding and tornadoes in Iowa that summer ranked as the sixth worst disaster FEMA had every responded to, based on the estimated financial public assistance.