The Cedar River experienced its second highest river crest in the river’s recorded history on Tuesday. While Cedar Rapids is still in “major flood stage,” by most accounts, the efforts of the city and hundreds of volunteers can be considered a success.
Nearly 10 miles of earthen berms and barriers and about 250,000 sandbags have held most of the water from the Cedar River out of the city’s downtown that was flooded in 2008. Underground systems are still stressed and potential remains for floodwater to enter through the storm sewer, but the river is going down. It should be within its banks and a return to normalcy by the weekend.
Our kids are out of school for the week because the school district canceled classes due to the flooding. They were happy to volunteer filling sandbags. They loved being able to help their community and it made them all feel good knowing they were “doing their part.”
