
In the summer of 2008, the waters were starting to rise at alarming rates. Credit Island in Davenport, Iowa was no exception to the flooding, as for many years it falls victim to high water levels.
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The Cedar Rapids City Council has unanimously approved a plan for buying-out flood-damaged homes. This comes not long after over 100 flood survivors turned out for a town hall meeting to quiz city and federal officials about the progress.
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Governor Chet Culver today announced four new disaster assistance programs for small businesses and landlords impacted by the 2008 storms and floods, as well as improvements to the duplication of benefits policy for homeowners, at a press conference in Cedar Rapids.
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The city of Cedar Rapids is facing a tough question; should it rebuild the flood-damaged city hall or should it develop a new city hall from scratch?
It is a tougher question than most might think.
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For two weeks in June 2008, heavy rains and widespread flooding pummeled the Midwest. The nation’s worst natural disaster since Hurricane Katrina, the floodwaters decimated downtown Cedar Rapids, Iowa, causing an estimated five billion dollars in damage and displacing over 2,000 people. The waters of the Cedar River crested at 31.2 feet, the highest in the town’s 168-year history. The flood ripped buildings from their foundations, tumbling and twisting homes and offices.
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Doug Ward drives through a subdivision made up of rows of trailers. You can hear the sadness in his voice as he says, “This just doesn’t feel like home.” He longs for the life he lived before devastating floods destroyed his Cedar Rapids neighborhood.
“I want to come back. I miss (my friends) very much,” Ward said as he escorted CNN on a tour of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, nearly a year after the floods.
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The Flood of 2008 forever changed Cedar Rapids. When the Cedar River crested, it extended well beyond the 500-year floodplain and covered more than 10 square miles of the city. A year later, thousands of residents are still struggling to rebuild.
While Iowans are known for strength and resilience, the people of Cedar Rapids can only do so much on their own and are left behind by a federal disaster funding system that some say is broken. This is not the first national disaster, and it won’t be the last.
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Iowans experienced one of the most devastating series of natural disasters in our state’s history. Now, in true Iowa spirit, it’s time to rebuild.
The Rebuild Iowa Office (RIO) was established by Governor Chet Culver to coordinate the state-wide recovery effort after the historic floods, tornadoes and severe weather of 2008.
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The Iowa floods of 2008, which began around June 8, 2008 and spanned till July 1, was a historic event involving most of the rivers in eastern Iowa. The flooding included the Upper Iowa River, the Wapsipinicon River and Iowa River, the Cedar River, the Des Moines Riverand the Upper Mississippi River. The floods of 2008 had had a tremendous affect on the state of Iowa people throughout Iowa where affected in many ways. The amount of devastation in communities like Cedar Rapids, Palo, Iowa City, Burlington, Cedar Falls, and Waterloo is unimaginable. Rivers crested many feet above previously recorded levels.
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The majority of Iowa has sustained massive flood damage from the recent historic flooding. Help the victims recover from this catastrophic event by donating.


Cedar Rapids, IA


