A Watershed Year: Anatomy of the Iowa Floods of 2008

14. Flood Effects on Modern Communities

14 Flood Effects on Modern Communities Cornelia F. Mutel The 2008 floods canbemeasured,described,andstudied,theircausessought, and certain types of their effects measured. But these efforts give little vision of the magnitude of flood impact on modern residents: displaced families and lost homes, family treasures, and jobs. Many aspects of these damages will never be recorded. However, they can be sensed to a small degree in statistics. Of course, no one was tallying data on losses while the waters raged. That job was left to city and county employees who themselves were often displaced from their offices, workers who were scrambling to construct a future even as they recorded the past. Here is a listing of raw damage statistics for Johnson and Linn Counties and entities within these counties. The listing includes data available at the time; thus categories of loss are not consistent from one county or city to the next. In addition, some of the data remain preliminary. They were provided by government administrators on the dates indicated (see page 137), but numbers may change as more statistics become available. Additional information on financial costs of flooding for the entire state (with a few references specifically to Johnson and Linn Counties) is included in chapter 15. This listing does not do service to the amount of loss in rural areas and farms and in small towns (figure 14-1). 132 flood damages, costs, benefits Cedar Rapids Extent of flooding 9.2 square miles (about 14 percent of city) At Cedar Rapids streamgage: maximum discharge 140,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) (average discharge 3,807 cfs), on June 13; high water, 31.12 feet (flood stage, 12 feet); 13 days above flood stage—June 8–21 Persons affected (estimated) 18,600 total 1,834 Cedar Rapids Community School District students resided in flooded areas Structures damaged 7,198 parcels, including around 5,400 residential, 1,050 commercial, and 84 industrial properties Eight cultural assets, including the Islamic Center of Cedar Rapids, FIGURE 14-1 Although statistics in this chapter focus on urban losses from the 2008 floods, Iowa’s small towns and rural areas also were intensely affected. The losses and costs of destruction to farmlands and human structures there were tremendous (see chapters 15 and 16). Photograph by Lindsey Walters, Daily Iowan. . . . . . . flood effects on modern communities 133 National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library, African American Museum of Iowa, and Cedar Rapids Museum of Art Eight Cedar Rapids Community School District facilities Costs $33.5 million, estimated Cedar Rapids Community School District damage Additional impacts Water supply: 3 out of 4 city collector wells, 46 vertical wells disabled by flood 72,428 tons of debris collected and removed to landfills (as of 9/24/08) (figure 14-2) FIGURE 14-2 Flood recovery begins with the disposal of staggering amounts of debris. Nearly every household item soaked by floodwater is discarded. Most residents helped by sorting and separately stacking household hazardous waste, electronics, and appliances for proper disposal. Photograph by Richard A. Fosse, city of Iowa City. . . . . 134 flood damages, costs, benefits Linn County Structures damaged More than 250 in unincorporated county 10 county buildings, including the Administrative Office Building, County Correctional Center, Sheriff’s Office, County Courthouse, Youth Shelter 12 arts and culture organizations and 37 human service organizations; rebuilding costs to exceed $50 million Costs $64.807 million, damage estimate for Linn County government (including lost revenue) Iowa City Extent of flooding 1,600 acres At Iowa City streamgage: maximum discharge 41,100 cfs (average discharge 2,300 cfs), on June 15; high water, 31.53 feet (flood stage, 22 feet); 32 days above flood stage (June 5–July 7) Persons affected 1,531 housing units evacuated Structures damaged 251 housing units, 52 commercial properties (figure 14-3) 3 of 5 bridges closed during flood; remaining 2 bridges within 5 inches of flooding Costs $6.47 million, damages to public land and structures, response efforts Sandbagging efforts 26,040,020 pounds of sand hauled, more than 1.5 million sandbags installed Additional impacts 6 of 11 municipal wells out of service 8,656 phone calls to Flood Information Center Coralville Extent of flooding 273 acres Flooding began June 5; Highway 6 remained under water until June 28, Edgewater Drive through July 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . flood effects on modern communities 135 Water 8 feet deep...