4,000 homes evacuated amid flooding in Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Pastor Dale Morgan
4,000 homes evacuated amid flooding in Cedar Rapids, Iowa*
* Story Highlights
* About 100 blocks underwater in city; 55 Iowa counties are state
disaster areas
* Cedar Rapids has closed all but one of its bridges over the Cedar
River
* Flooding also has hit southern Wisconsin, where thunderstorms
continued Thursday
* Missouri River expected to crest soon; Missouri communities
prepare for flood
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) -- The Cedar River poured over its banks here
Thursday, forcing the evacuation of nearly 4,000 homes, causing a
railroad bridge to collapse and leaving cars underwater on downtown streets.
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Days of preparation couldn't hold back the rain-swollen Cedar River in
Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Thursday.
Officials estimated that 100 blocks were underwater in Cedar Rapids,
where several days of preparation could not hold back the rain-swollen
river. Rescuers had to use boats to reach many stranded residents, and
people could be seen dragging suitcases up closed highway exit ramps to
escape the water.
"We're just kind of at God's mercy right now, so hopefully people that
never prayed before this, it might be a good time to start," Linn County
Sheriff Don Zeller said. "We're going to need a lot of prayers, and
people are going to need a lot of patience and understanding."
Days of heavy rain across the state have put nine rivers across Iowa at
or above historic flood levels. Residents were steeling themselves for
floods before storms late Wednesday and early Thursday brought up to 5
inches of rain across west central Iowa.
"We are seeing a historic hydrological event taking place with
unprecedented river levels occurring," said Brian Pierce, a
meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Davenport. "We're in
uncharted territory; this is an event beyond what anybody could even
imagine."
Gov. Chet Culver has declared 55 of Iowa's 99 counties to be state
disaster areas.
No deaths or serious injuries were reported in Iowa, but one man was
killed in southern Minnesota when his car plunged from a washed-out road
into floodwaters. Another person was rescued from a nearby vehicle in
the town of Albert Lea.
In Des Moines, officials said they were urging residents to evacuate
more than 200 homes north of downtown because of concerns that the Des
Moines River would top a nearby levee. Some residents also were ordered
to evacuate homes along rivers in Iowa City and Coralville.
In Cedar Rapids, a city of about 124,000, floodwaters downtown neared
the top of stop signs, and cars were nearly covered in water. It wasn't
clear just how high the river had risen, because a flood gauge was swept
away by the swirling water.
"It's going door to door to make sure people don't need to be rescued,
'cause right now, they can't get out on their own," said Dave Koch, a
spokesman for the Cedar Rapids Fire Department. "It's just too deep."
The surging river caused part of a railroad bridge and about 20 hopper
cars loaded with rocks to collapse. The cars had been positioned on the
bridge in hopes of weighing it down against the rising water.
Joe Childers, an official at a U.S. Bank in downtown Cedar Rapids, was
in jeans and tennis shoes as he worked to move documents and other items
upstairs or out of the building.
"We're trying to keep water out of as many places as we can," he said.
"It's pretty amazing. I don't think anyone really expected it this far."
Prisoners had to be moved from the Linn County jail, including some
inmates who had been transferred from the Benton County jail in Vinton
because of flooding. The sheriff's office also was under water, Zeller said.
"We've had to move our operations out of the area and to our alternate
emergency site," Zeller said. "We are just trying to regroup. When you
don't have all of your equipment and you don't have all your facilities
to operate out of -- we're at a little bit of a disadvantage ... but
we're carrying on as normal."
Several emergency shelters were opened, and the city had closed all but
one of its bridges over the Cedar River.
"I believe that this is God's way of doing things, and I've got
insurance, so I'm not worried about it," said Tim Grimm, who was forced
to leave his home in the city's Czech Village area.
In Austin, Minnesota, the Cedar River was expected to crest Thursday
night at 22 feet, 7 feet above flood stage. The river reached 25 feet in
a 2004 flood that caused major damage in the city.
Some businesses and offices were closed because of the flooding,
including a Hormel Foods corporate office and its Spam Museum. The city
of Austin, however, has bought many properties in the flood plain since
the 2004 flood and tore structures down.
"The city has been very proactive, and that's going to save them some
problems this time," said Mike Welvaert, a Weather Service meteorologist.
Flooding this week also caused damage across southern Wisconsin, where
thunderstorms continued pounding the area on Thursday.
A funnel cloud was reported in Grant County in southwestern Wisconsin,
said Chris Kuhlman, a Weather Service meteorologist. The Weather Service
also said flash floods in the county closed two highways and required
rescues, though a sheriff's office dispatcher did not immediately have
those details.
Just southeast of Grand Rapids, Michigan, crews pulled the body of a
motorist from a car found drifting in the swollen Thornapple River.
State police said they believe that the 57-year-old man called on his
cell phone but didn't say what happened or where he was; they found him
using global positioning equipment.
People in several northern Missouri communities, meanwhile, were piling
up sandbags to prepare for flooding in the Missouri River, expected to
crest over the weekend, and a more significant rise in the Mississippi
River expected Wednesday.