DES MOINES — As the Cedar River continued to rise Sunday, residents were asked to leave low-lying areas of Cedar Rapids that are in danger of flooding[3].
The National Weather Service predicts the river will reach a crest of 23 feet in Iowa's second-largest city Tuesday morning. Offic ials have asked those in downtown areas of the city near the river to leave by 8 p.m. Sunday. They expect it could be a week before people will be able to return home.
Jen Winter, Cedar Rapids public works director, cautioned that despite the revised flood projection to 23 feet, "this is still a major flood event" and floodwaters may still seep out of areas where steps have been taken to hold back flood waters.
Cedar Rapids City Manager Jeff Pomeranz says the city has been preparing to deal with a major flood since a major flood that hit the area in 2008, and that those preparations should help.
"All this work is coming together. You can see the benefits of planning and preparation in the various streets and infrastructure improvements and the protection systems in order to make sure that our city is safe," Pomeranz said. "That could not have happened without tremendous preparation by our city, our county government, our private sector and most importantly our citizens."
Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett said that city officials learned Wednesday that they had four days to react to the flood, and he praised residents for taking ownership of their community in the flood fight.
"This is the last day to get all the work done that needs to be done, and people have been working very hard," Corbett said. "I know that there have to be a lot of sore backs and sore arms and shoulders for all the work that has been done. It was citywide, really."
Corbett also said that all areas of Cedar Rapids w ere the subject of efforts to establish flood defense, unlike plans for flood control developed by federal officials that only would have protected the east side of the river.
See the impact and breadth of the flooding in eastern Iowa in a series of raw video clips of the Shell Rock and Cedar rivers on Sept. 24, 2016. Zachary Bodyen-Holmes/The Register
MidAmerican Energy said Sunday that 890 Cedar Rapids properties had been identified for natural gas service disconnection because of flooding. Affected customers would be contacted by phone, the company said. In Plainfield, natural gas was being shut off to 20 homes in low-lying area due to high water levels from the runoff.
Police Chief Wayne Jerman said a curfew will be imposed from 8 p.m. Sunday until 7 a.m. Monday and police officers will patrol flood affected areas. He said 300 to 400 Iowa National Guard troops will be assisting police and 60 additional sworn law enforcement officers will be arriving to assist Cedar Rapids police with their operations.
Officials said that as of Sunday morning, no looting had been reported and that National Guard troops who assist law enforcement officers will not be armed.
In Palo, a small community in Cedar Rapids, city officials said no water use was mandatory for all local residents. Officials said the sewer system had been taking on a large amount of water and a sewer line had possibly been severed. The water system remained operational, however. In addition, a mandatory evacuation was in effect for parts of Palo, and a curfew in the evacuation area had been declared from 8 p.m. Sunday to 6 a.m. Monday.
In Charles City, the Cedar River was slightly under 16 feet late Sunday morning after cresting Satu rday at 20.95. Flood stage is 12 feet in Charles City, and the river was forecast to fall below that level sometime late Sunday night.
In Waverly, the Cedar River was at 12.79 feet late Sunday morning, which was just above flood stage of 12 feet.
In the Waterloo and Cedar Falls area, where the Cedar River crested Saturday morning, local officials were keeping their fingers crossed that flood damage will be significantly less than the devastation experienced in the 2008 flooding.
"I am so proud of the towns we have here," said Black Hawk County Emergency Management Coordinator Lorie Glover. "Waterloo, Cedar Falls, Evansdale and some of the others were extremely pro-active — two and three days ahead of the flood, using lessons learned from 2008. They did a phenomenal job."
At least four bridges were still closed in Waterloo on Sunday, and Fletcher Avenue was shut down from University Avenue to Highway 63 because of flooding on Black Hawk Cree k. However, bridges on U.S. Highway 63 and several other roads remained open.
The river peaked Saturday in Waterloo at 22.65 feet, which was well above flood stage of 13 feet, but less than the 2008 record crest of 27 feet.
"We do have pockets of damage in some areas that we will be looking at, but the water is still very high," Glover said. "We need to wait until it goes down a little bit before we can get into some areas to look at what damage there will be."
Local residents "sandbagged and sandbagged" around businesses in an effort to mitigate flood damage, so damage totals to bu sinesses aren't clear yet. Glover said she already knows that some residents have water in their basements and some houses may have water on the first floor, but she can't get a better idea until flooding recedes.
However, it appears there has not been any catastrophic damage in Black Hawk County, unlike 2008, when a railroad bridge collapsed in downtown Waterloo under enormous pressure from the swollen Cedar River.
"This time the bridge was battered pretty good by the water, but it has held up and it is doing well," Glover said.
Contributing: The Associated Press
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- ^ Next Slide (www.usatoday.com)
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