Results tagged “Flood”

A house boat from Ellis Harbor sits overturned along the banks of the Cedar River.

County and city facilities on Mays Island continue to be surrounded by clean up trucks and crews.

The Cedar Rapids Softball Hall of Fame has been gutted due to flood damage, much of the insides now strewn on the facility's front lawn.

A home on the city's northwest side sits naked after damaged interior and exterior portions have been stripped and gutted.

Although clean up has begun at the Great America Furniture Mart, there is still much to be done.

The historic Paramount Theater was hit hard and, like much of downtown, continues to be cleaned and rebuilt.

A parking area along 1st Street SE and behind Siegel's Jewelry is now home to a pile of damaged debris.

The trailer a family friend was nice enough to loan us is full again and ready for another trip to the county dump. That's pretty much how the entire summer has gone for our family.

Especially given the circumstance of so many other Cedar Rapids area residents as they try to wade through local politics, FEMA disbursements and insurance red tape, I've tried not to complain too loudly about our specific circumstance. Still, to say that it's been frustrating would be an understatement.

The guys we hired to re-roof our home were repeatedly thwarted by the heavy rains. One night I came home from a meeting and was greeted by large plastic tubs that had been strategically placed to catch the rain water as it meandered its way around the tarps above.

Then, as the sun began to shine and the hammers began to pound, the river went wild. The guys, all of whom sustained significant damage to their own homes, abandoned our roof to evacuate their own families, find temporary housing and then deal with the aftermath. It was no one's fault and, as such, there was no one deserving of impatience or temper tantrums.

The tear off that was stacked on either side of our home served as a dam during those days, preventing water run-off and resulting in a soaked basement. At that point we had to stop our plans to help friends muck out their basements and concentrate on our own problems. It was simply a mess -- one that seemed to never end.

In total we've now made five trips to the dump. Each load has been roughly a ton of old singles, wood, brick and a few creepy-crawlies. The picture above is of the last of the tear-out that was on the ground. It's almost a bittersweet thing that the roofers are back at work today and creating new piles that will need to be hauled off.

It's August now. Next week the children will go back to school. In a few more weeks the leaves will begin to change. Sadly, it's too late to try and salvage my flower gardens. For me, that's been the most depressing part of all -- the inability to get in my gardens and, even worse, watching as my gardens were taken apart to make room for wheelbarrows. But there's always next spring, right?

In the weeks following the flood, I've received numerous requests from people throughout the rest of the nation who want to know the fate of this or that facility. Most of these I've opted to answer privately. There is one business, however, that has garnered so much interest from previous Cedar Rapids visitors and residents that I thought it deserved its own space.

The A&W Drive-In, located on the corner of Ellis Blvd and K St. NW, is quite obviously a place that many remember fondly. Because of that I'm especially pained to report that the drive-in took a hard hit during the flood.

It appears that the kitchen area is in the process of being gutted. Numerous appliances have been removed and are now sitting outside the building. It does, however, look as if most (if not all) of the car ordering machines remain intact -- but I have no way of knowing what the flood water may have done to them internally.

When I took the photograph this afternoon, there was no one on-site that I could ask about the fate of the business. So, I do not yet know if the owners plan to re-open or if the flood marked the end of the drive-in.

For those that may have been hesitant to send an email request for information about a location in Cedar Rapids, please know that I don't mind getting them or answering them. Most of the locations I've been asked about are places that I've been known to frequent. In other words, these are businesses I care about too.

We've come a long way in Cedar Rapids, but there is still a great deal of work left to be done. While there is no doubt that the flood has changed the face of the city, it remains to be seen if it will scar.

Two of Linn County's female candidates have made it through the voting process to arrive in the final round of U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin's "Building Blue" contest: Swati Dandekar and Gretchen Lawyer.

Dandekar currently serves in the Iowa House of Representatives, but is making a bid for the Iowa Senate seat that was vacated by Mary Lundby.

Lawyer is a newcomer, a Marion resident, and is hoping to earn the House seat that Dandekar is vacating.

While there are other candidates remaining in the voting pool -- including two other very strong and wonderful Democratic women -- I'm encouraging all Essential Estrogen readers to visit the "Building Blue" site and cast votes for Lawyer and Dandekar. Not only am I blessed to have them both as neighbors, but I've watched as they have suspended politics to address the flooding situation in the Cedar Rapids area. They've shown a commitment to community that deserves reward.

Voting closes on June 30th.

Harkin's contest, which awards campaign funds to candidates earning the most votes, was extended to the end of the month in hopes that more Iowans, including those dealing with flood waters, could participate. Prize money being awarded in this final round is $5,000.

Photos of Dandekar helping with flood clean-up:

Photos of Lawyer helping with flood clean up:

Floodstock 2008, a three-day music festival featuring local and regional bands, is slated for July 3, 4 and 5. Tickets will be available at the gate for $10 per person (per day) with all proceeds benefiting Cedar Rapids area residents and businesses affected by the flood.

Although the full list of entertainers is still being developed, the event will definitely feature Swing Crew, Greenbrier, Funk 101, Copper Man, Superfly Samurai, and Wicked Liz & the Bellyswirls.

The event will be held at Cabo Grill, 2730 Edgewood Rd. SW in Cedar Rapids, and will run from 4 to 10 p.m. on Thursday and noon to 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Event sponsors include the Cedar Rapids Jaycees, Cedar Rapids Downtown District, Cedar Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce, Marion Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Cedar Rapids Foundation.

In Cedar Rapids more than 3,900 homes were flooded as 1,300 city blocks were engulfed by the Cedar River. Roughly 6,500 jobs were lost as hundreds of businesses literally went down the river.

Iowa Congressmen Bruce Braley and Dave Loebsack, both Democrats representing flood-ravaged eastern Iowa, are requesting federal support for state railroad bridges that were destroyed by flood waters.

Flooding in eastern Iowa destroyed three railroad bridges: the Iowa Northern Bridge in Waterloo, the Cedar River Bridge in Cedar Rapids and the Iowa, Chicago & Eastern Bridge near Columbus Junction.

Loebsack, who represents the 2nd Congressional District that includes Cedar Rapids and Columbus Junction, and Braley, who represents the 1st Congressional District that includes Waterloo, have penned a joint letter to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to request that the bridges be quickly repaired and destroyed.

"Iowa's rail lines are critical to businesses small and large throughout our state, and we must act quickly to repair the rail infrastructure damaged during the recent floods," said Loebsack. "Two separate rail bridges have been destroyed in the Second District, and a third bridge in Waterloo must also be replaced. Congressman Braley and I are committed to seeing these bridges quickly rebuilt and necessary repairs made to the rail lines. We will continue to work with Speaker Pelosi, Congressional leadership, and the Federal Railroad Administration to ensure continued federal assistance is available so our communities, economy, and businesses can recover from this disaster."

The letter advocates changes to the Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing Program, which provides low-interest loans for railroads to construct and rehabilitate infrastructure. Braley and Loebsack would like to see flexible terms for railroad loans during natural disasters such as the recent Iowa floods.

"These repairs are essential to getting life back to normal for many Iowa residents, producers and businesses," said Braley. "Waterloo's Iowa Northern Bridge connected John Deere's Waterloo Works to the country, and it is important that we act quickly to restore access to this vital facility. As Iowans continue down the road to recovery, it is essential for all of us to work together to help rebuild eastern Iowa."

In the joint letter, the congressmen note that since the creation of the railroad infrastructure program in 1998 no railroad has defaulted on payment, including four Iowa railroad loans. The congressmen state that they believe these changes to be "a low-cost way to leverage the maximum amount of private investment in needed repairs and to target that investment on the most serious and expensive needs."