We had more rain today and more is expected tomorrow but after that it's supposed to be dry for at least 4 or 5 days straight. That's especially good news for our neighbors on the Cedar River in Cedar Rapids about 30 minutes north on I-380. The flood is beginning to recede there and thankfully people will have dry and not-too-hot weather as the long clean-up effort begins.
The mitigation effort in Iowa City has been tremendous as we prepare for the Iowa River to crest some time Monday or Tuesday. I heard estimates of 1500 to 2000 volunteers just at the Madison Ave staging area on the East side of the river. As I describe to you the efforts around campus and near downtown Iowa City this campus map may be a useful reference. There's also some links to pictures I found on Flickr.
Ok, so if you look in the NE corner of the map I linked you see Dubuque St and the bridge at Park Rd. That's all closed down. The bridge at Iowa Ave, by the English-Philosophy building is also closed. Until tomorrow, I think that the Burlington St bridge and the Benton St bridge (further south than that map shows) remain open. Here's the view from the Burlington Street bridge facing Southwest. That building is the hydraulics research laboratory. After the bridges close, Iowa City will be effectively cut in half, although I-80 North of town should stay open.
There's lots of high ground around the area shown in that map. Downtown Iowa City will not be seriously impacted. That's the area on the East end of that map, up steep hills from the river. Likewise, on the West side of the river the hospital, the medical labs, etc. are on high ground. (I am too, btw). We are very fortunate compared to Cedar Rapids where the commercial and business center of the city has been basically submerged, not to mention numerous residential areas including the historic Czech Village.
The river flows South through the city curving gently to the East. Because of the curve, I think that the areas on the West bank have had the most water. Here's Hancher Auditorium looking from the East across the river. It looks like water is up to the walls at Hancher now. The building you see in this image of Riverside Drive facing North is new and not (I think) labeled on the map I linked. You can see there, however, that the water has already crossed Riverside drive. There was a great effort to move art in the museum and in the student art buildings and get that area sandbagged. I hope nothing happens to that beautiful Pollock in the museum! I'm sure that moving those sorts of things was a high priority. I think the art students had plenty of opportunity to get their stuff as well, though I imagine that for things like large sculpture projects that could be very difficult.
I spent most of my volunteer time on the East side of the river. There was a tremendous sandbag levee constructed along the IMU and by Danforth Chapel. That picture was taken 3 days ago and the levee built basically along the orange fencing there is now at least ten feet high. I walked down near there earlier this evening and from what I could see it was holding pretty well. South of the IMU is the English-Philosophy Building (where I have an office). That was not sandbagged and is expected to flood the first floor and basement. People with offices in that building had several days advance notice to move things. On slightly higher ground from EPB is the library. Yesterday and today hundreds of volunteers formed chains to move books up from the basement. On still higher ground, across Madison avenue, is the Lindqvist Center, home of a main university data center. I don't know if the water will get that high or not, but it was clear that they wanted the Lindqist center especially well protected just in case.
The volunteer effort was really something to behold. We had Mennonites from the surrounding area filling bags held by local hippies who handed off to sorority girls tying off the bags who passed off into bag lines with college hipsters, Iowa City families, U Iowa football players, and international students shuttling bags into place. The fellow on the radio even said he saw inmates over from the Johnson county jail in orange jump suits volunteering. I feel that the university and the city have done a great job organizing the efforts. The university is now directing volunteers to the city. Today my wife and I went and volunteered with the city instead of the university. Currently there is a surplus of filled bags down in front of the Lindquist Center that will certainly be shuttled to where ever they're needed tomorrow.
I haven't really seen anyone on Kos saying this but I've seen people in other places online making comparisons with Katrina. I've seen wingnuts, for example, try to excuse FEMA's horrible Katrina response by pointing to local efforts in Cedar Rapids and other parts of Iowa as if the local governments should be able to handle things themselves. I even saw a despicable comment (again, not here) to the effect that white people in Iowa know how to take care of themselves unlike the residents of New Orleans. Such bullshit. As devastating as the images out of Cedar Rapids are, it's not even really close to the scale of Katrina. In Katrina an entire radius was wiped out by a hurricane. When I lived in Cedar Rapids I frequently walked from the campus of Coe College, which is on high ground and totally unaffected, down to the riverfront. All that downtown area you see flooded on tv is like a 15 minute walk from being high and dry. The magnitude is just entirely different and the ability to stage relief efforts is a lot better here. There can be absolutely no comparison.
We have a lot to be proud of in Iowa City in the way that we've come together, but our efforts are only just beginning. The damage around campus will be significant but not (I hope) devastating. South of the area in the map I linked above there are a number of residential areas in the 500-year flood plain. I know that the strip in neighboring Coralville is underwater and of course Cedar Rapids and all the small towns in the area, I mean all across Eastern Iowa really, are disaster areas. The challenge will be to maintain the effort that we've seen the past couple of days for the months and months of recovery.