Iowa river expected to crest below record levels
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — After a day of evacuations, Cedar Rapids residents find themselves with a few extra hours to prepare for the Cedar River to crest.
Cedar Rapids authorities asked residents of about 5,000 homes near the river to voluntarily evacuate by Sunday evening. Not all residents in the area decided to leave, and they were asked to stay in their homes starting last night for a curfew that will be enforced nightly from 8 p.m to 7 a.m. until the flooding is over.
National Guard Troops are monitoring about 75 check points in Linn County for the safety of residents, particularly for those who chose to not to evacuate, said Micky Miller, public information officer for Linn County Emergency Management.
Though the National Weather Service originally predicted the Cedar River would crest at 23 feet in Cedar Rapids on Tuesday morning at 7 CDT, the time of the crest is now predicted for 1 p.m. Tuesday. The crest will still be 11 feet above flood stage but well below the record 31.12 feet record set during the devastating flooding in 2008.
Iowans scramble to battle 2nd-worst floods in history
Miller said Linn County residents have done an excellent job of using the days before the flooding to prepare and help their community members.
"There's been a real pulling together of the community," Miller said. " I think its a combination of having more time to prepare and that a lot of people who are going though this now have also been through it in 2008."
In Vinton, a Benton County community about 35 miles northwest of Cedar Rapids, the river rose dramatically Sunday, up nearly 6 feet in a 24-hour period ending at 5 p.m.
The river was scheduled to crest in Vinton on Monday morning at 21.5 feet, which is below the 2008 record of 24.6 feet.
Iowa braces as Cedar River continues to rise
The Cedar River crested Saturday in Waterloo and Cedar Falls, which are about 55 miles upstream from Cedar Rapids.
The Iowa Department of Transportation said it is monitoring the status of Interstate 80, Iowa’s busiest route for interstate travelers and commercial truck drivers. Transportation Director Paul Trombino said Monday that Intersate Highway 380 through downtown Cedar Rapids is expected to remain open, despite the second-highest flood crest ever forecast for the city. But further downstream, I-80 is being closely watched because it has been closed by flooding in the past, he said.
"We won't know until probably first thing on Wednesday morning because it seems like the flow has slowed down a little bit. But the flow is also dropping so that is good news," said Trombino. "So I won't have that answer, but that is one of the areas that we will monitor as we go forward."
I-80 was closed in both eastbound and westbound directions in Cedar County during widespread flooding that struck eastern Iowa in 2008. Traffic at the time was detoured north to U.S. Highway 30, which required additional travel time for truck drivers and other motorists. The stretch of I-80 at risk for flooding is about 20 miles east of Iowa City.
On Monday, Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad said he has signed a proclamation of disaster emergency for an additional four counties. He previously designated 13 other counties as disaster areas, providing state resources for recovery efforts as well as assistance to individuals.
Contributing: William Petroski, The Des Moines Register. Follow Molly Longman on Twitter: @MollDoll2013
