Great Iowa Flood of 2008

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June 2008 Iowa Flood

Looking towards downtown Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on June 12
Duration	June 7 - Ongoing
Damages	TBD
Fatalities	1 Death
Areas affected

The Great Iowa Flood of 2008 are ongoing floods involving most of the rivers in eastern Iowa. These include (from north to south, east to west), the Upper Iowa River, the Turkey, and the Maquoketa Rivers; outside of the Driftless Area, they include the catchments of the Wapsipinicon River and that of the Iowa River, to include the latter's major tributary, the Cedar River (and its significant tributaries). The Des Moines River and its tributaries are also party to the subject. The flooding of downtown Cedar Rapids was the event's biggest and most memorable disaster. The flooding of Iowa City, as of June 14 is ongoing, and is expected to be comparable in destruction to that in Cedar Rapids; in particular, the campus of the University of Iowa is extremely vulnerable, and serious flooding is expected.

Contents 1 Origins 2 Effects 3 Upper Iowa River 4 Turkey River 5 Maquoketa River 6 Wapsipinicon River 7 Iowa River 7.1 Oakville 7.2 Iowa City flood 8 Cedar River 8.1 Charles City 8.2 Waverly 8.3 Cedar Falls-Waterloo 8.4 La Porte City 8.5 Vinton 8.6 Palo 9 Mississippi River 9.1 Burlington 10 Media response 11 Public health 12 See also 13 References

[edit] Origins

Elwynn Taylor of Iowa State University was quoted in The Des Moines Register on June 11th as saying that the wet spring of 2008 was traceable to relatively warm and wet air over the winter. Taylor was quoted at length:

"Fog in the winter is normally the result of a strong flow of warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico, which normally does not occur in the winter," he said. "Usually that occurs in March and April. It's caused by either low pressure over New Mexico or high pressure over Bermuda. Both are common in the summer. Both are rare in the winter. More than 80 percent of moisture that falls in the Midwest is from the Gulf of Mexico, and the primary cause of it coming here is the Bermuda high pressure. The pressure arrived very early and much stronger than usual by April and May this year. And it was the case in 1993."^[1]

Taylor was quoted at length in the article, concluding: "Rule of thumb is, if a storm begins in the Texas panhandle, it will come to Iowa," Taylor said. "The conditions that allow a storm to develop there are the conditions that move the storm to Iowa."

The 2007-2008 winter was particularly severe in the northeastern portion of the state, with a heavy snow cover that persisted in many areas until early spring rains. For Iowa the process that caused the rivers to swell was an extension of the Late-May 2008 tornado outbreak sequence, which aside from record-making tornados, also brought huge quantities of rain in the form of stalled thunderstorm systems.

[edit] Effects

While the Great Flood of 1993 was greater in continental terms, in local Iowa terms, the June, 2008 Midwest floods were considerably worse. Lessons learned in 1993, however, helped prevent or otherwise ameliorated the damage, extensive as it is; one example is how the city of Des Moines raised its levee around its domestic water and sewage treatment plants. Many Iowa rivers were affected. In the northeast, in the Driftless Area, the Upper Iowa, Turkey and Maquoketa Rivers all had flooding; minor direct tributaries of the Mississippi caused damage as well. The Wapsipinicon River is also at flood stage. The Iowa River and its tributaries, most particularly the Cedar River continue to experience severe flooding; the crest has yet to reach Iowa City and the campus of the University of Iowa. The Des Moines River is at flood stage.

At 3:43am on the morning of June 14th the National Weather Service in Des Moines Iowa issued a Flash Flood Warning for the City of Des Moines due to a 50 foot wide levee breach along the Des Moines River in Des Moines near Birdland Park between 6th Avenue and New York Avenue. The NWS Des Moines also said in the warning that a mandatory evacuation is in place from Saylor Road and River Road and North Road to Beckwith Ave. Local officials are reporting that up to 4 feet of water has already been encountered to this point.

Cedar Rapids had, by early morning, June 13, 2008, history-making high water, reaching about 33 feet above flood stage and flooding most of the historic downtown area, including Mays Island, which is essentially the civic center, housing the city hall, county courthouse, county jail and the United States court house, all of which were flooded to the first floor level.

The Cedar River is tributary to the Iowa River, but a long ways downstream. Iowa City, Iowa, in the meantime, is in the process of defending itself against equally historic high water. In particular, the University of Iowa is currently (and frantically) moving all valuable things above the expected flood stage; while sandbagging is in progress, serious treasures have been moved out of harms way.

Downriver, Wapello, Iowa would be the next seriously impacted community (county seat of Louisa County, Iowa), as it lies just downriver from the confluence of the Iowa and Cedar. Once these floodwaters reach the Upper Mississippi River, the media predict all sorts of bad things for river towns on the Mississippi beneath them.

Severe flooding in Iowa led to evacuations of many homes. In eastern Iowa along the Iowa River and Cedar River, flooding is expected to exceed that of the Flood of 1993.^[2] Flooding also forced the closure of a number of roads throughout the state, reaching the point where travel was not advised in some parts of the state.

Along the Mississippi River, flood waters were reaching near record levels. In Burlington, the Mississippi reached three different crests, before hitting 22.3 feet on June 10, the fourth highest stage in the city's history.

On Monday, June 9 the Upper Iowa River in Decorah flooded when a levee was breached. Up to 6 inches (152 mm) of rain had fallen in the 48 hours prior. The water flooded parts of the lower campus of Luther College, damaging athletic fields and the Regents Center. Winneshiek County officials called this the worst flood to occur in Decorah since the current levee system was put in place in the 1940s.^[3][4] Other portions of the city were flooded. For a time, worries of losing the sanitary sewer system lead to a 'please don't flush' order; as of Friday, 13 June 2008, this order was withdrawn, but pleas for careful use remain in effect.^[5]. This article also alludes to a difficult cleanup facing Decorah as well as Winneshiek County.

Further downstream on the Upper Iowa, in the small historic unincorporated area of Dorchester, severe flooding was experienced. In particular, a trailer court sustained major damage.^[6]

Along the upper Turkey River, the historic towns of Spillville and Fort Atkinson experienced significant flooding, with damaged roads and bridge approaches.^[7] Further downstream, portions of Elkader were under water; the river had retreated by Thursday, June 12.^[8]

In Cedar Rapids, officials were readying residents and downtown business owners to evacuate as the Cedar River threatened to spill over a levee. The river was expected to top the levee June 11, prompting a mandatory evacuation of downtown.^[9] All of the bridges over the Cedar River in downtown Cedar Rapids were closed at 8:00 pm CDT (0100 UTC) on June 11.^[10] On June 12, a levee broke, a railroad bridge owned by the Cedar Rapids and Iowa City Railway was swept away along with loaded rail cars, 100 city blocks were submerged downtown, and 10,000 people were evacuated.^[11] In Waterloo, fast-moving water swept away a railroad bridge used to transport tractors from a John Deere factory to Cedar Rapids. It also prompted the city to shut its downtown and close five bridges.^[9] The Black Hawk County Emergency Management Agency recommended the evacuation of the Cedar Terrace Neighborhood in Southeast Waterloo on June 10.^[12] Because of the severe flooding in east-central Iowa, officials with U.S. Postal Service's Des Moines-based Hawkeye District suspended all Retail, Post Office Box and Mail Caller Services at the Waterloo Main Post Office.^[13]

On June 12, a mandatory evacuation was issued for the Normandy Drive area of Iowa City.^[14] An evacuation of two streets in Coralville was also issued, with the expectations of completing it by 5:00 pm CDT (2200 UTC) on June 12.^[15] One person died in the Iowa flooding.^[16] A section of Interstate 80 was closed in Cedar County due to flooding. ^[17]

[edit] Upper Iowa River

On Monday, June 9 the Upper Iowa River in Decorah flooded when a levee was breached. Up to 6 inches (152 mm) of rain had fallen in the 48 hours prior. The water flooded parts of the lower campus of Luther College, damaging athletic fields and the Regents Center. Winneshiek County officials called this the worst flood to occur in Decorah since the current levee system was put in place in the 1940s.^[3][4] Other portions of the city were flooded. For a time, worries of losing the sanitary sewer system lead to a 'please don't flush' order; as of Friday, 13 June 2008, this order was withdrawn, but pleas for careful use remain in effect.^[5]. This article also alludes to a difficult cleanup facing Decorah as well as Winneshiek County.

Further downstream on the Upper Iowa, in the small historic unincorporated area of Dorchester, severe flooding was experienced. In particular, a trailer court sustained major damage.^[18]

[edit] Turkey River

Along the upper Turkey River, the historic towns of Spillville and Fort Atkinson experienced significant flooding, with damaged roads and bridge approaches.^[7] Further downstream, portions of Elkader were under water; the river had retreated by Thursday, June 12.^[8]

[edit] Maquoketa River

The catchment of the Maquoketa River defines the western edge of the Iowa portion of the Driftless Area. In the Maquoketa's upper area, Monticello experienced high water.^[19]

[edit] Wapsipinicon River

The Wapsipinicon River is outside the Driftless Area, its catchment actually defining its eastern boundary. Some fine video showed the river, at Independence at flood stage, where the old mill beside/beneath the state highway bridge had flood water pulsing out of its upper windows.

[edit] Iowa River

The Iowa River has as its major tributary, the Cedar River.

[edit] Oakville

In the early morning of June 14 a levee along the river, near the town of Oakville failed, causing the town to be instantly evacuated.

[edit] Iowa City flood

By Saturday, June 14, the river had seriously risen, enough to knock out the University of Iowa's power plant. Warnings have been issued for people to prepare to evacuate from the 500-year-flood floodplain. The University has had time to prepare, moving important library collections out of harms way, through the help of volunteers. The bookstore in the student union was moved to higher ground. All summer classes are suspended and most University personnel are furloughed until after the emergency. ^[20]

[edit] Cedar River

A number of cities, and rural areas, suffered serious flooding, the most extreme being that in Cedar Rapids.

[edit] Charles City

Charles City experienced the earliest flooding on the Cedar, starting on Sunday June 9. It is reported as the worst flood in the city's history. The city's historic suspension bridge was swept away.^[21]

[edit] Waverly

Waverly was caught a little unaware by the size of the river's height, causing officials to scramble; the river crested locally at 19.12 feet. More than 100 people evacuated. A second crest was experienced on June 14, but this was two feet lower than the previous one.^[22]

[edit] Cedar Falls-Waterloo

Cedar Falls, home of the University of Northern Iowa, is on the west bank of the Cedar River, and north of Waterloo, which occupies both banks of the river. Both cities suffered significant flooding, but nothing like what happened downstream. The worst problem was the fact that all the bridges were closed. The Waterloo Courier lost the use of its printing plant but continued printing by courtesty of the Cedar Rapids Gazette.^[23]

[edit] La Porte City

La Porte City had earlier suffered a significant flood at the end of May.^[24]. By June 10, the city braced for a second onslaught.^[25]

[edit] Vinton

Vinton experienced the worst flooding in its history starting in the early morning of Wednesday, June 10 with a crest upwards of 24 feet. The flood knocked out the municipal electrical generating plant, inundating about 15 blocks along the river. The Benton County jail had to be evacuated.^[26] The sheriff's office was indundated, as was the basement of the County courthouse, where 911 dispatchers were housed.^[27]

[edit] Palo

The small town of Palo, just upstream from Cedar Rapids, and home of Iowa's only nuclear power plant, underwent a mandatory evacuation. As of June 13, the town remains under water.^[28]The nuclear plant was not harmed, but did lose land-based telephone service, as the land lines were routed through Palo.^[29]

The Cedar River crested in Cedar Rapids during the night of Thursday, June 12. The cresting was continously watched and reported by the local media.

[edit] Mississippi River

The Mississippi River along the Iowa and Illinois border has three major tributaries, the Iowa River, the Des Moines River, and the Skunk River.

[edit] Burlington

In the city of Burlington the river played havoc with the annual music festival, causing it to close three days early, the first such occurrance since 1965.

Flood waters caused the city to close off the area of the riverfront along Front Street, to Main Street, several buildings along Main Street, including the County Courthouse, and the historic Railroad Depot utilized several sandbags around the buildings, in an attempt to keep the rising flood waters at bay, however, buildings as far west as Valley Street (seven blocks west of, and parallel to the riverfront), and the historic Fire Station, were pumping out their basements, due to the flood waters.

On the morning of June 10, all rail traffic was halted at the BNSF Bridge and rerouted to other, safer bridges, as the water level of the river was to just a little over five foot from the bottom of the tracks, and flood waters had begun to overtake the bridge's western approach into Iowa.

The City's rail yard, which runs parallel to the riverfront began to experience flooding for the first time since the Flood of 1993 on the afternoon of June 12, as it encroached on their diversion spurs, and began to follow the tracks leading out of the city.

Several buildings along the waterfront, including Memorial Auditorium, began sandbagging efforts early on the morning of June 11 to keep out the rising flood waters.

By the morning of June 12 the flood waters began to fill parking lots of business along the riverfront, including the Port of Burlington, and Memorial Auditorium, both of which sit at the rivers edge.

During the afternoon of June 14, the city, as well as Des Moines County evacuated all residents living east of County Highway 99, due to a levee in the area threatening to fail. A bulge had been seen on one side of the levee, and water was pooling near the base, on the dry side.

One of the city's largest employers, Case Corporation, is being threatened with rising flood waters, due to it's proximity to the riverfront, and due to the closeness to a levee that was severely damaged due to constant rains in the area.

By the early evening of June 14 residents were put on alert that water might be shut off, due to the possibility of flood waters reaching the treatment plant, along the riverfront, if this happens, it would mark the first time in the city's 172 year history that water was shut off due to a flood.

Burlington's newspaper, The Hawk-Eye, remains in operation, despite it's close proximity to the flooding Mississippi River, it has never stopped publication in its history.

Both major highways that serve the Burlington area, U.S. Highway 61, and U.S. Highway 34 were closed off, Highway 61, just south of the city, near the county line, and Highway 34 at the Great River Bridge.

[edit] Media response

The Cedar Rapids TV stations went to wall-to-wall coverage starting Wednesday, June 11. KGAN-TV (CBS, channel 2), KWWL-TV, (NBC, channel 7), and KCRG-TV (ABC, channel 9) all stayed on air giving local coverage, pre-empting network programs, even to include pre-empting the network evening news program. KCRG moved ABC's coverage of Game 4 of the 2008 NBA Finals to its digital subchannel, while KWWL broadcast NBC's coverage of the 2008 U.S. Open Golf Championship.

KCRG and The Gazette, both owned by Gazette Communications and located right next to each other in downtown Cedar Rapids, have continued to operate out of their respective newsrooms despite the nearby flooding.

[edit] Public health

Just after midnight, central time, June 13, Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids began evacuating its patients from the facility. It is understood they could not further function under the emergency circumstances. The evacuation was completed by about 8:20 AM. ^[30][31]

The main public health hazard is the polluted water, mixed with outflow of overwhelmed sanitary sewer systems. As the waters recede, tremendous amounts of organic debris will add to the problem; this includes uncollected garbage and dead animals. This issue will be exacerbated by the onset of the usually hot and humid summer weather. Just making the affected areas sanitary again will be a huge undertaking.

[edit] See also

• June 2008 Midwest floods

[edit] References