A Watershed Year: Anatomy of the Iowa Floods of 2008

5. Linn County and the Flood

5 Linn County and the Flood Linda Langston A neat rectangle in eastern Iowa, Linn County (population 200,000) is the state’s second most populous county and one of its largest manufacturing centers . The Cedar River flows across the county from northwest to the southeast, cutting through its largest city, Cedar Rapids (population 125,000). During the 157 years before 2008, the Cedar River flooded often. In 1851 and 1929, the river in Cedar Rapids rose to a stage (river height) of 20 feet—8 feet above the flood stage. It reached nearly that high in 1961 and 1993, and has exceeded a stage of 17 feet ten more times since 1851 (USGS 2008). After heavy winter snowfalls and a wet, cool spring, 2008 was expected to become another heavy flood year. Here is the story of Linn County’s response to that threat. Sunday, June 8: In anticipation of projected serious flooding, the Linn County Board of Supervisors called a meeting of all department heads and elected officials to discuss necessary precautions. Projections for the flood crest were 20 feet (NWS 2008). Rainfall was heavy. Monday and Tuesday, June 9 and 10: The projected flood stage had already risen to 22 feet (NWS 2008). Sandbagging took place in many Linn County locations. County roads personnel directed sandbagging efforts on the Cedar 46 rising rivers, spreading waters Rapidslevee,whichstretchesalmost2milesthroughandbeyondthedowntown area on the west side of the river and is designed to protect up to a flood crest of 22 feet. The levee was sandbagged to almost 25 feet. Throughout the county, people were observed to be calm and seemingly prepared for the potential of a 22-foot flood crest. Within Cedar Rapids, the sandbagging efforts of volunteers and city and county staff were centralized at the Public Works building on Sixth Street SW (see figure I-3 for site locations). In the small town of Palo (population 424) about 6 miles north of Cedar Rapids, sandbagging efforts were organized at the community center in the middle of town. The Duane Arnold Nuclear Power Plant is located just north of Palo. Flooding there was not anticipated, but power plant personnel carefully monitored river levels. Wednesday, June 11: At 2:45 a.m., the Linn County Emergency Operations Center (EOC) was totally operational. The EOC is a standing emergency center located at Kirkwood Community College. A small staff is usually present, but the EOC has the room and resources for many more during times of natural disaster or emergency. In 2008, city and county elected officials, state and local law enforcement officers, the National Guard, health department officials, hospital and education officials, and transportation, engineering, GIS (geographic information systems), Red Cross, and Salvation Army personnel all used this centralized location. The EOC ran on a 24-hour basis and at any given time 125 to 150 people were on-site, forming a beehive of activity and coordinating all emergency operations. Cedar Rapids Fire Chief Steve Havlik was the Incident Commander for the emergency and directed all operations. Within the EOC, all officials and volunteers had access to weather and river information from the U.S. National Weather Service’s regional River Forecast Center, news broadcasts, and communication equipment, as well as hook-ups for wireless computers and many telephones. Through the EOC, emergency shelters for evacuees were set up in Cedar Rapids schools. Transit systems activated to evacuate people with special needs, including people with disabilities, special medical needs, and the frail elderly, from areas anticipated to flood. Bymidmorning,theriver’sstagereached24feetandpreparationswerebeing made for a higher flood crest. Water began to overwhelm the sewer systems in the Time Check and Czech Village neighborhoods of Cedar Rapids, and people began to evacuate their homes (figure 5-1). Many businesses in downtown Cedar Rapids closed in early afternoon to get people home and off the streets before floodwaters rose, though few anticipated that floodwaters would reach into the downtown’s central business district. linn county and the flood 47 FIGURE 5-1 Water encroaches on homes in the Czech Village neighborhood in Cedar Rapids. Photograph by Mike Duffy, Linn County Secondary Road Department. Thursday, June 12: Rainfall was heavy. The changing predictions of the height and time of the anticipated flood crest continued to challenge everyone. On this one day, we saw flood crest predictions rise from 24 to 26 to 28 feet (NWS 2008). Spreading floodwaters overtopped the levee on the...