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A Flood Story: The Forgotten Iowa

Posted on 05. Jan, 2011 by admin.

Tracy Sefl is a Principal with Navigators Global, a bipartisan government relations and strategic communications firm, based in Washington, DC.   More importantly, Tracy is a native of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. On her recent trip back to Iowa to see her family for the holidays, Tracy decided to investigate the effects of the flood of [...]

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A Flood Story: The Yates Family

Posted on 21. Sep, 2010 by admin.

By Cari Cooney As with many people facing flood waters in 2008 in Iowa, they felt it would never top the flooding of 1993.  We’ve heard this a lot from those who have had devastating waters destroy their homes, businesses and beloved items.  William Yates was a longtime resident of Palo, a small town northeast [...]

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Memories Lost in the Time Check Neighborhood of Cedar Rapids

Posted on 19. Jul, 2010 by admin.

A Flood Story By Cari Cooney Elizabeth and her husband were going through a separation at the time of the flooding in 2008. Though she was living in a separate apartment, many of her items were being stored at their home together on 10th Street. Elizabeth was still frequently at the home, helping her husband remodel [...]

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A Flood Story: Timothy Jensen recovers from 2008 Flood, Surgery

Posted on 21. Mar, 2010 by admin.

There are so many stories from flood victims that find their way to my inbox. While all of them are interesting, heart-breaking and sometimes, pleasantly enlightening, the story of Timothy “TJ” Jensen was truly incredible. Told to me by his dear friend Rebecca Hall, his story of loss, courage and perseverance could serve as an inspiration to all who reads his tale.

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A Flood Story: The Credit Island Bait Shop in Davenport, Iowa

Posted on 26. Jan, 2010 by admin.

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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From Tragedy To Togetherness: The Story Of A Flood

Posted on 11. Jun, 2009 by admin.

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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CNN: Flood leaves boulevard of broken dreams

Posted on 14. May, 2009 by admin.

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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Cedar Rapids Flood Stories

Posted on 13. May, 2009 by admin.

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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