Cedar Rapids is in the midst of a historical event. This is the worst flood that has ever occurred in this community. The previous worst flood was in 1929 with the possibility that a flood in 1851 was as bad. Obviously records weren’t that good back then so it’s hard to say. But by 1929 people were keeping very good records and Karen’s dad personally took pictures from the top of the Quaker Oats plant that showed the entire Rock Island railroad yard under water. That flood had a crest of 20.0 feet. As of 5:18 p.m. we already had a river level of 28.5 feet and by 6:49 p.m. the river had risen to 29.2 feet. To give you an idea, the water level reached from the river 10 blocks on the west side. Yesterday I drove around and took pictures of the flood. At that time it looked like any flood I’d ever seen. There was some water in pools in the low-lying areas. It covered some roads close to the river. But as far as I could see there was no water threatening any building that I went by. By dawn today all the levies in town had been breached and there was about 10 feet of water in all the near in neighborhoods.<\/p>\n
After this alarming introduction let me say that everyone we know and love is perfectly safe. We all live miles away from the river and quite a distance above the floodplain. The local television stations have been broadcasting 24\/7 and it is hard to find out anything other than what is happening in Cedar Rapids.<\/p>\n
All the pictures that I took yesterday were nothing. And you can’t get anywhere near the flooding today. City police and National Guard have blocked off everywhere and they are seriously discouraging any sightseers from coming down and getting in the way. When I looked this afternoon there were pictures of the Cedar Rapids flood on Flickr but there was only one from today. I’m sure there are many more now and tomorrow there will be even more. Direct your browser to: http:\/\/www.flickr.com and do a search on “Cedar Rapids flood 2008”.<\/p>\n
Those of you here in town will know as much as I do about what’s going on. I seriously encourage you to leave your comments about what you’ve experienced. Those of you farther afield, please ask questions in the comments area. <\/p>\n
The river is supposed to crest tomorrow morning at dawn. I’m sure there will be much more to tell you then. Just an initial alert. More later.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Cedar Rapids is in the midst of a historical event. This is the worst flood that has ever occurred in this community. The previous worst flood was in 1929 with the possibility that a flood in 1851 was as bad. … Continue reading