Cedar Rapids flooding

[Cydaddy]

Went downtown CR and supported the local Mexican restaurant that had half price margs. Looks like a dumptruck and skid loader convention going on. They have it going on. Hope it works.

 

[CyCrazy]

Not true, especially taking the last several years into account. A significant number of gauges have had to be discontinued due to lack of funding with additional ones barely scraping by.



Can't speak to your specific situation but small creeks tend to crest then drop quickly after rains while moderate to large rivers like the Cedar take significantly longer to rise but hold above flood stage longer. Thus your crest, barring more significant rainfall, will likely be well before that of the Cedar.

Fine, its still a good start. Yes I know some are discontinued but you can make an educated guess with the ones around your area that are not. jfc

 

[Gunnerclone]

Fine, its still a good start. Yes I know some are discontinued but you can make an educated guess with the ones around your area that are not. jfc

Mmmm...I'm going to have to sort of...disagreeee with you there. I'm going to need a gauge on my creek that I can see from my kitchen window....thanks...that will be great.

 

[chuckd4735]

Fine, its still a good start. Yes I know some are discontinued but you can make an educated guess with the ones around your area that are not. jfc

You dont take being wrong to well...

 

[Desiigner]

Did all the Cedar Rapids area high school games get cancelled?

 

[Rabbuk]

Did all the Cedar Rapids area high school games get cancelled?

Wash/Jeff played yesterday and I think games were playedtonight. Not supposed to flood tonight.

 

[Bryce7]

It was pretty much in jest. I get that there a lot of people who can't just up and move. It was a swamp when New Orleans was founded 500 years ago but it was a strategic spot with Mississippi River traffic. From a commercial outlook a great opportunity. For long term livability from a natural disaster standpoint it was and continues to be a horrible idea.

Old Town is built on the higher ground.

 

[wxman1]

Did all the Cedar Rapids area high school games get cancelled?

Nope. No impact to stadiums and the flood is not for another day+.

When I checked things out yesterday afternoon a lot was already done. Going down to help finish up this morning and tonight. We got this. As long as those Hesco barriers hold it shouldn't be too bad. They have never tested them to 100% use so we will see.

 

[Scott34]

I wasn't part of the '08 flood but I currently live in the Time Check area by the softball fields in Ellis Park. We obviously packed up the stuff in our basement and main floor anf evacuated but I'm amazed at how the community has come together and have helped each other in this time of need. We were outside backing our trailers yesterday and we had a guy stop with a random guy with a truck and trailer stop and asked if we needed any help. So awesome that we have some great people in that town. As much as this whole thing really sucks, just puts life into persperspective. "Stuff" can be replaced, people cant.

 

[Bryce7]

In the grand scheme of things, my question is quite insignificant, so I'll ask here instead of calling an expert in the CR area that is dealing with much more important and pressing things.

I have a creek near my property. My home is relatively high compared to the creek. It is not in a flood plain, but is close to being in the 500 year mark (within a couple feet). There is no record of it having water in the basement.

That being said - right now the creek is pretty high and over the banks a bit. A couple weeks ago it was pretty high and came about halfway up to my house. Granted, it probably needed another 5 feet of depth until it would make it into the house. When the Cedar crests this weekend, does the creek I am near also crest? Or is that completely different and won't be impacted.

I am near Dry Creek, which flows south, then east then south - joins up with Indian creek and then finally into the cedar south of town.

Just want to be as prepared as possible.

When river is high, creeks back up their channel. How close are you to the junction?

 

[huntt26]

When river is high, creeks back up their channel. How close are you to the junction?

Pretty far - up in Robins so it winds around a ton before getting to the Cedar. Just moved here a couple months ago, so this is all new. I think our fate will lie on how much rain we get in the next 48 hours. That rain might not have anywhere to flow, so we'll have to keep an eye on that as it pools up. I appreciate the responses!

 

[BoxsterCy]

Nope. No impact to stadiums and the flood is not for another day+.

When I checked things out yesterday afternoon a lot was already done. Going down to help finish up this morning and tonight. We got this. As long as those Hesco barriers hold it shouldn't be too bad. They have never tested them to 100% use so we will see.

I think the confidence level in them is pretty high. They work best in longer sections on very flat ground that is part of a planned flood fight barrier. They installed 10 miles of them in Fargo, North Dakota for the 2009 flood.

The good news for CR today is that because of the previous big flood they are better prepared and planned for this one even if they do not have a permanent barrier system in place. The downside is that with a rain runoff flood you don't get the lead time to prepare like you do with the snow melt runoff floods on the Red River of the North.

 

[wxman1]

Bagged 100k pounds of sand in an hour this morning to protect our church (old Intermec building). Still a lot going on but most places are getting close to done now.

TCR has cancelled the shows for tonight as well. All downtown bridges are now closed.

 

[cc1091]

In actuality, there is no connection between the water levels in the Cedar River and the water levels in George Wyth Lake. George Wyth Lake is an abandoned sand/gravel pit that was given to the state. The water in the lake is groundwater and thus the water level is the level of the groundwater aquifer that lies below the area. The lake water level varies with the level of water in the aquifer, not with the level of water in the Cedar River.

In contrast, the Cedar River is fed by surface runoff and it's water level varies according to the amount of rain water that makes it to the stream. The water in the Cedar River and the water in George Wyth Lake are kept separated (as much as possible) as mandated by the Iowa Code. The main reason for this separation is that you do not want contaminated surface runoff water to pollute your groundwater aquifer.

Retired Iowa DNR Flood Plain Engineer and former City of Cedar Falls Assistant City Engineer.

I'm looking at that 80'+ pool north of Waterloo. I guess I only assumed that it was at Geo. Wythe. But certainly the 80' deep pool can be better utilized to control the flush of water that comes from events that happen further north of Waterloo, however perhaps not in a traditional dam. This time the water seems to have a large contribution from the Shell Rock River as well as waters coming south out of Minnesota or just south of MN. Not sure if that the Shell Rock River contributed as much last time (rather, Black Hawk Creek and areas between Waterloo and CR seemed to contribute to the already large flow coming south from MN in 2008).

 

[wxman1]

Also the bugs are terrible and this will not help.

 

[Rabbuk]

Got stuck on the west side for almost 3 hours trying to find a way across to the east side. Helped 2 teachers get all their stuff packed and put into storage.

 

[BoxsterCy]

Some great drone footage of Cedar River flooding upstream from ThumperNation on Facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/1thumpernation/?hc_ref=NEWSFEED&fref=nf

 

[theantiAIRBHG]

Some great drone footage of Cedar River flooding upstream from ThumperNation on Facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/1thumpernation/?hc_ref=NEWSFEED&fref=nf

The Shell Rock and Waverly footage was most interesting to me. The Shell Rock footage was the most sobering, it really showed the scope of how mean water can be, IMO.

Also, I walked that wooden bridge at the end of the Waverly footage many times while I was at the Burg. It's hard to imagine the water being as high as it was in those shots.

 

[CyCrazy]

That was a great video

 

[BoxsterCy]

The Shell Rock and Waverly footage was most interesting to me. The Shell Rock footage was the most sobering, it really showed the scope of how mean water can be, IMO.

Also, I walked that wooden bridge at the end of the Waverly footage many times while I was at the Burg. It's hard to imagine the water being as high as it was in those shots.

What surprised me is the number of bridges still open to traffic with water at the spans low cord elevation. Most of the time that means "closed."