On her recent trip back to Iowa to see her family for the holidays, Tracy decided to investigate the effects of the flood of 2008.  Here is here story from Huffington Post:

On the last night of my holiday trip to my hometown of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, I asked my parents to take the long way to our dinner. I wanted to see first-hand those parts of the city still devastated by the historic flood of June 2008. In Washington, DC, where I now live, talk about Iowa revolves around the churning machinery for the GOP presidential nomination and the Iowa caucuses that kick off that national process. A list of 50 influential Iowa Republicans recently generated a fair amount of chatter; a Sarah Palin book tour stop on the Western side of the state generated another round of “will she run?” prognosticating; road-weary reporters and campaign operatives dissect new restaurants in the Des Moines area. That is the Iowa of the national political conversation. But it is not the Iowa I saw.

Our car ride was extra dark, because many residential streets no longer have street lights. Along low-lying Ellis Boulevard, parallel to the Cedar River, a string of homes had single blue porch lights illuminated on the front porches, that neighborhood’s unofficial way to signify a dwelling is occupied and to celebrate recovery efforts. In the same area, thousands of homes have been demolished, making for an eerie hopscotch pattern of blue lights. Looters have ransacked many of the abandoned homes, removing copper pipe and other salable materials. Some abandoned properties sat empty and dark. Others assaulted the senses: windows blown out, exteriors blackened by rot, debris strewn across lawns. The scene screamed “New Orleans,” but without the accompanying charitable service projects and celebrity commitments.

We passed an abandoned A&W hot dog stand, more empty homes and vacant lots, and Ellis Park, where a City Garden has yet to be fully restored. We wove through the Czech Village – a once-proud cultural landmark – and its surrounding streets. The National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library is being lifted from its foundation and moved to higher ground, the saved artifacts temporarily transferred to a nearby storefront. The rest of the Czech Village activity that night was limited to two small neighborhood bars. As we turned onto yet another un-illuminated side street of wide, empty lots, I too-easily imagined a scene from “The Walking Dead” and mused that theIowa Film Office could capitalize on these locations as revenue generators for television and films: “Iowa welcomes productions seeking desolate, flood-ravaged areas to serve as zombie zones and meth-head havens.”

The most notable development downtown is a new federal courthouse: a two-block-wide, 300,000 square-foot structure under construction on the banks of the Cedar River; its $160 million budget part of a Congressional disaster-relief appropriation a few months after the flood. Within its shadow, more than 30 months post-flood, the main branch of the Cedar Rapids Public Libraryremains closed, its salvaged holdings housed in a mostly empty shopping mall. The Greyhound bus terminal remains dark. The City Hall remains unusable; the Mayor and other officials are scattered around in leased office space. Much of the grand, six-story, century-old Paramount Theatre — home to the symphony I grew up attending — was destroyed and irreplaceable. The art museum where I got married is a few blocks away, and untouched, but the restaurants our out-of-town guests visited that weekend are all gone. The city is banking on a controversial plan to build a Mayo Clinic-style medical mall downtown, despite any accompanying retail development for visitors.

Read Tracy Sefl’s full story on Huffington Post.

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 of Cedar Rapids.  He had experienced the floods of 1993 and was ready to face them once again.  His daughter Abbey, her twin sister and older sister had grown up in that ranch home that sat on three lots.  With a creek to the left and right and a river running nearby, they were about to face unbelievable amounts of water.

Before they decided to evacuate, they had moved everything up off the floor and to higher ground within the house, expecting the floodwaters to only infiltrate the basement.  Once the water surrounded the house, William Yates told his children that it was time to leave.  The four inches of water that came into the basement in 1993 had multiplied to four feet of water on the main level of that ranch.  When the river crested, Abbey and her twin sister took a boat to see what could be saved.  They parked their boat right underneath the awning of the home.  The women got into the water and went into the home to find only a handful of pictures on walls and some clothing placed up high.  They took what they could and left.

Abbey’s childhood home was completely destroyed.  Everything was lost in the flooding besides the few items that they took with them on the boat.  All of the items in the garage and shed were also destroyed.  Once the Yates’ were allowed to enter to home after the waters had receded, the mold had already set in.  The summer heat and humidity had increased the mold growth, leaving a terrible stench.

As Abbey Yates said “The smell was the worst thing I have ever had to deal with.”  Mud covered the house and you could see the water lines both inside and outside.  The basement windows had busted out and three feet of water still remained, along with fish and other animals that were living down there.  Everything that once had life to it was now brown, washed away and caked with mud.  “To know all you have is gone and there is nothing anyone can do to help is the worst feeling in the world.-” Abbey stated.

FEMA provided some assistance, but it wasn’t anywhere close to how much had been lost.  The Salvation Army and the American Red Cross were quick to offer their volunteer services and the Yates family is so grateful for their help.

With nothing left to do but start over, that is exactly what they did.  They decided to gut the house and put it on the market.  They sold the house, but decided to keep the two additional lots in the family and the sisters handle the upkeep of the land.  It was after all, where this family had grown up and been part of a wonderful community of people who cared for each other.  When all of this happened, William had been in his third year of battling cancer.

On March 31st, 2009, William Yates’ left this earth after a courageous fight.  He was a man well known in Palo for being someone to count on; a man who would go to great lengths to help his friends and neighbors.  The girls promised him before his passing that they would never reside in a flood zone.  He is greatly missed by his family and the community of Palo, where he had lived his entire life.

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 the kitchen and attic. They had just finished remodeling the bathroom.

When the word of possible flooding reached Elizabeth, she was nervous. Being told that it would be no worse than the flooding of 1993; she still felt it was necessary to move appliances and other items up to higher ground. Soon after, she noticed police driving up and down her street in gators, recommending evacuation. With out of town commitments pending, she called her husband, who happened to work for the city. He assured her everything would be taken care of and that she should keep on with her plans. The recommended evacuation was merely for “liability purposes.” She headed to St. Louis as planned, only to get the call that her neighborhood’s evacuation recommendation had been moved to “mandatory.”

A frantic Elizabeth called her husband, who was at work and beyond exhausted. She begged for him to find the time to save their cats and dogs. He was able to retrieve them, but assumed the birds would be safe and he left them behind. When the levee broke, he feared for the birds’ safety. There was no way he could walk into his house and get them. The National Guard wasn’t going to let him access his home. Not to mention there was four feet of water sitting on the main level. He decided to borrow a canoe from a friend. Quietly, he slipped past the National Guard and got into his house. The birds were rescued.
After the water was gone, Elizabeth described it as “a picture is worth a thousand words.” Mud was everywhere in the house and the smell of mold was awful. Friends came to help clean and salvage what they could of the home. The pets were boarded free of charge thanks to Elizabeth’s friend, Robin from Anamosa, Iowa. Clothing that was able to be saved were aggressively washed and washed again.

Treasured items were lost in the flooding. Among those items were cards, yearbooks and even Elizabeth’s beloved piano from when she was a child…all destroyed by the flooding. She had lost precious keepsakes from her grandmother, who had passed away. They also lost two vehicles. Her now ex-husband filed for assistance through FEMA, but she never saw any of the money to help her replace what she lost. She’s moved on, but she says she’ll never forget the shared loss she feels with the Cedar Rapids community.

As for the house, it still remains vacant two years later. The walls are knocked out. The once remodeled bathroom is back to framework. In an instant, a lifetime of memories were washed away.

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.

Timothy’s home on 18th Ave SW in the Czech Village of Cedar Rapids was a complete loss in the flooding of 2008. The value of his home dropped to nothing more than $5000.00 worth of land in the matter of weeks. Just months before that, everything was going well. He welcomed his first child into the world in March of the same year, a beautiful daughter named Makiah. As he was enjoying spending time with his newborn daughter, he never imagined that he would be forced to evacuate his home in just a few, short months.

As if there were not enough on his plate, he was also struggling with seizures brought on by Epilepsy from an early childhood accident. In the fall of 2003, Timothy was run off I-380 by a semi. The seizures increased in frequency and he was referred to the University of Iowa for further testing. Months went on. The testing continued to try and locate where in the brain the seizures were coming from. He went through surgery to attach electrodes to his brain to monitor the seizure activity.

The University was also conducting a study at the same time to help those with hearing impairments. The electrode data would be used to help the physicians at the University of Iowa with TJ’s seizures, but also with learning about various sounds and the brain’s response. With successful monitoring, they were able to pinpoint where his seizures were developing.

A second surgery would take place to attempt to halt the activity. Friend Rebecca Hall remembers talking to TJ. She told him she was afraid the surgery wouldn’t work and feared for his health. TJ’s response was “if it doesn’t stop my seizures, then that’s okay. It’s okay because if nothing else, I was able to be part of something that could help someone who is deaf hear someday.”

TJ’s surgery was a success. He was able to get his driver’s license back and received a promotion at this job. He was also able to purchase his home…the same home that was so quickly destroyed in the floods. In the following year after the flood, local station KGAN did a “30 Days of Thanksgiving” giveaway with Royal Neighbors of American. $74,000.00 was given to flood victims, one heart-wrenching story at a time. Rebecca wrote TJ’s tale for his nomination.

Her recommendation led to TJ winning $1000.00 towards getting his life re-established. She and his father worked out a deal where they told TJ that a contractor was going to be stopping by the flood house. He was quite surprised when it was a news crew, complete with balloons and a big check! They interviewed him right there…in the house he had loved so much. It was nothing more than sub-flooring and studs.

As of now, Timothy is staying with his family. He has recently received information that he is qualified for a buyout. He’s patiently playing the waiting game, but TJ has persevered over many challenges in the past few years, and anyone who knows Timothy Jensen personally wouldn’t expect anything different.

Downtown Davenport not long after the floods

The Credit Island Bait Shop in Davenport, Iowa
By Cari Cooney

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. The owners, Al and Alice Kump, along with friends and family of the Credit Island Bait Shop on West 2nd Street in Davenport knew they had to act fast if they wanted to save their store.

The City of Davenport was quick to bring down 15 truckloads filled with sand, ready for bagging. For two long weeks, Laura Formholtz helped the owner Al, her brother in law, stack piles of sandbags in hopes to save the Bait Shop’s building. Friends and family pitched in to help shovel bags full of sand and attempt to form protective barriers against the rising water. The local radio and news stations were kind enough to put a good word in, and strangers from all walks of life came to downtown Davenport to assist this small business in a time of crisis.

After two hard weeks of sandbagging and battling sunburn and heat exhaustion, everyone finally felt that they could relax. Unfortunately, the water continued to rise and Laura was once again back to help her family when they needed her. She described the dark waters that would rush up against the sides of her car as she drove to the Bait Shop. “I could slip into this river in the dark and never be heard from again…they would never even know I was gone! It was an understatement to say I was terrified!”

As the sandbagging continued, so did the generosity. Local grocery store Hy-vee brought food to all of the volunteers who spent hours in the heat helping to protect the Credit Island Bait Shop. After weeks of working hard to save this local store, the flooding subsided and the damage was assessed. Because the shop was not hooked to the local sewer line, harm was minimal. Merchandise had been removed in a timely manner, so no inventory was lost due to water damage. However, the time of the flooding would have been the months where the Bait Shop made the most income and sadly the owners lost revenue. There was some painting that needed to be re-done and the owners had some personal items destroyed, but the shop sustained very little water damage.

Laura Formholtz still looks back and thinks how lucky her family’s business was during the flooding of 2008. “I talked to people I otherwise never have had the chance to meet and I gained a bit more of an acceptance towards others. I think it was wonderful that so many people who never even met my family volunteered day after day to save the family business!”

Have a flood story you’d like to share? Send us an email!

A and W Root Beer in CR struggles to recover

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.

Ward, 64, is an institution in the historic Time Check neighborhood just across the Cedar River from downtown. He owns the A&W Drive-In on Ellis Boulevard, a fixture on this street since 1948.

Historian Mark Stoffer Hunter calls the drive-in Cedar Rapids’ “Eiffel Tower.”

“It’s been there for us over the decades,” Hunter said. “It’s one of those landmarks that tells you you’re in Cedar Rapids.”

When floodwaters ravaged Cedar Rapids last June, Ward’s drive-in drowned in almost 10 feet of water. Now, the drive-in sits in ruins. A&W root beer mugs covered in dried mud sit on the restaurant floor. The stench of floodwater lingers in the air.

Putting together the pieces of Ward’s life hit a snag in the fall of 2008 when an economic storm swept across the country. In a matter of months, the financial support Ward needed to rebuild dried up.

“Life’s got to go on. If you sit and worry about it too much, you’d probably be at my funeral today,” Ward said.

Ward estimates that it will cost close to $1 million to rebuild the A&W Drive-In at its current location. He’s been able to line up $350,000 in loans, but that’s far short of what he needs.

READ THE COMPLETE STORY ON CNN

Story Highlights
- The A&W in Cedar Rapids was Doug Ward’s life for 30 years until last year’s flood
- Almost a year later, the drive-in sits in ruins, the root beer mugs still muddied
- The drive-in has been a landmark in the Time Check neighborhood since 1948
- It will cost upward of $1 million to rebuild or change locations

Cedar Rapids Flood Story

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.

Right now in Cedar Rapids (Palo is a prime example), entire neighborhoods sit empty and rotting. Businesses struggling to rebuild also fight to survive. The state of the economy is not helping the situation either.

The committee, the Cedar Rapids Public Relations (CRPR) group, began meeting February 2009 on a volunteer basis to help address one of the primary post-flood communication challenges. Committee members have spent countless volunteer hours creating a communitywide flood message, listing viable story leads, designing an interactive website, producing a collaborative video and crafting a compelling media kit.

Today marks the official launch of Cedar Rapids Flood Story, a website designed as a way to get out the word about Cedar Rapids. The flood stories are stories that need to be told. When significant destruction hits a vibrant and productive community, every American should care.