All Aboard… the Flip-Flop Express!!

The Sutliff Bridge is gone. I cannot believe it, but the eastern portion of the Sutliff Bridge washed away and the other 2 sections are under almost 2 feet of water.  Go to Kcrg.com and do a search for “sutliff bridge” to find pictures. It’s unbelievable.

The Coralville Reservoir crested during the night at 717 feet, lower than projected.  But the outflor is still very high and while the IOwa River is projected to crest lower than they thought, it will still be higher than currently.

The University abandoned its Arts Campus (Hancher Auditorium, etc.) in favor of trying to save the power plant.  19 buildings are flooded, including 2 dorms.

The Coralville strip was under 5 feet of water yesterday and all road service between East and West Iowa City was being restricted to one bridge.  Residents were being told to stay on their side of the city.

The University told all non-patient care employees to stay home.  And for staff involved in patient care at the hospital, if you were stranded with no way to get in (roads closed, etc.) they were willing to bring you in by helicopter AirCare or a National Guard blackhawk helicopter.

For complete information and some amazing pictures, go to:

www.press-citizen.com  and www.kcrg.com (KCRG in downtown Cedar Rapids is still streaming live 24 hours on their website and are running on generators.  It’s a testament to their determination to get the news out. They’re operating on no teleprompters, very low light conditions, basically handing a camera to anyone who can hold one to go out and get footage and bring it back).

PLEASE - the national news is not covering Iowa City/Coralville (as of yet anyway), so if you want to see any of this, you must go to these local websites.

OK, in reality I’m starting to freak out a bit.  One of my good friends just had a baby last week and I’m holding it the other day and thinking, “I can’t do this.”  I have no idea where that came from. I’ve grown up around babies; have taken care of them from birth; practically worked as a live-in nanny for my aunt and uncle; I know how it all works, from the feeding to the changing to the “jiggle walk” to everything.  I’ve done it all, just not given birth.  And here I am, ME, thinking there is no way that I’m prepared for this.  Oh well. I guess everyone feels that way.

Jason reassures me, which is hysterical, because HE is the one who hasn’t done ANY of that! He’d never even held a baby until he held my cousin when he was 6 months old back in 2002 (can’t believe Colin’s turning 6 next week). And he’s NEVER changed a diaper (says he’ll learn on our kid).

I can feel my body being more “stretched”, if that’s the word.  I look bigger to me, but not to anyone who didn’t know me “before.” I can’t find a comfortable position sleeping, and sometimes even sitting, and I get winded very easily.  I feel so big and out of shape and it’s only going to get worse. Sometimes it feels like Tigger is having his/her own little party in there, with all the moving.  It makes me laugh.
Oh, well. It will all be fine in the end.

As so many people have asked me how my parents are doing with the flooding that is happening in Iowa, I thought I’d add something here. Prayers are welcome!

Where my parents’ house is located is high enough and far enough from the river that they’re ok.  But their paths to/from Iowa City/Coralville may soon be cut off (or at the very least restricted immensely).  So, t hey are not in danger of evacuation, but people they work with or people we know may be.

Iowa City/Coralville:

The city held a special council meeting to establish rules for evacuation. They’ve never had to have this before!  At this time, some areas of IC and Coralville are being evacuated (Bill & Cindy- the area we saw under water this last weekend has a mandatory evacuation now for those residents).  But more evacuations are threatened. For more information on that, click here:

Conditions will worsen, more evacuations to come

Dubuque Street, one of the main accesses into downtown IC and to the University campus has been closed and the water is so high you cannot even see the median. City park has been closed. Water is in Mayflower Hall, as well as North Hall. Hancher Auditorium and the Schools of Art & Music have been vacated by faculty. 1st Avenue in Coralville (one of the main arteries to Coralville from I-80. The other is the mall exit) is closed.

River, reservoir continue to rise; no end in sight

My mother this morning, at one point, drove through over a foot of water to get to her office. She told me by email she’ll need to find another way home tonight, because they’ll have the road closed by then. (This was Iowa Avenue)

Parkview Church, think Willow Creek but smaller, had been using what was left of their parking lot as a base for sandbagging operations. The water is now 1/2 foot up the wall around the church and the parking lot is gone. They’ve moved their church offices to the east side of town and another church is hosting the rest of their VBS this week. Weekend services are being held in West High School until further notice.

Not much left over water at Parkview Church

East of Iowa City:
I-80 will be closed tonight just east of West Branch (my hometown). The 2-lane highways around the closure have been closed since Tuesday. Rochester (little village) is sandbagging around their church, hoping to be able to use it as a shelter for displaced residents. In ‘93 the water never reached that high, but this year they’re not sure. My parents’ church just about 5 miles west of Rochester has offered their building, if needed.
If we were going home this weekend, we’d have to detour!
UPDATE: Residents of Rochester have just been asked to evacuate IMMEDIATELY.
Update to I80 closure

Cedar Rapids (about 25 miles North of IC):
The entire downtown area of Cedar Rapids is flooded and without power. Residents of several neighborhoods have been evacuated, with more to come. KRNA and KHAK, 2 radio stations located downtown, are off the air due to the power loss. Local ABC and CBS affiliates will most likely be forced to leave their buildings downtown soon as well. 4 main bridges into the downtown area are under water and this morning a railroad bridge collapsed. Internet service will soon be lost to most of Eastern Iowa due to flooding of the Qwest utility building downtown.

University of Iowa Hospitals in Iowa City is also preparing for an influx of patients from Cedar Rapids, because both St Luke’s and Mercy Hospitals there may need to evacuate patients because they have no power.

I-380 west of Coralville has not closed yet. Another 2 feet though and it will as well.

For complete information, see the Iowa City Press-Citizen website: as well as the local-ABC affilliate KCRG TV 9 website

Prayers are the best we can give when we’re so far away. REmember all of those in this area, in NE Iowa (WAterloo and Cedar Falls are also experiencing evacuations), western Iowa (the Scouts who lost their lives) among those still affected by the tornadoes in the area (IC is under a Tornado watch tonight again).

Fight the sleazy e-mails. Fight the “half truths”. Fight the out right lies. Check it out and find the truth… with proof!
FightTheSmears.com
Snopes.com

I wake up this morning and maybe it’s the shirt or something I decided to wear, but now my belly is WAY out there!  And I’m above my starting weight now.  Yes, anxiety is kicking in.  Is that possible overnight?

Are you having a bad day?? Well, this’ll make you laugh a little:

This also makes me smile.

Not in the mood to argue. Post has been edited and removed.

It took freaking long enough, but at 8:01 this evening, MSNBC officially declared Barack Obama the presumptive nominee of the democratic party for the president of the Unites States of America. He has crossed the 2118 delegate mark needed to win the nomination. Inexplicably, Hillary Clinton has yet to concede, but it is expected in the next day or two. but, it is OVER!

Updated (06/04/08 @ 6:30 PM): Hillary Clinton will suspend her campaign on Friday and endorse Obama.