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).
