So how goes the Eastern Iowa crowd and your flooding woes?

so many roads closes Iowa city is expected at 17 foot above flood stage right now before the rains tonight...

by Tuesday of next week I will be on an island with no roads free to get off

 

My daughter and I arrived home on Sunday evening from attending a wedding on the east coast, to find a rapidly rising Upper Iowa River already above flood stage.

About 7:15 am on Monday, we got the word that we were under a mandatory evacuation. We grabbed important papers and the cats, piled into the MINI, and headed for the high ground near Luther College on the north side of town. Not 15 minutes later, we heard that they had closed the main bridge connecting the two sides of town over which we had just passed. With US-52 also closed, if you needed to get to the south side of town you had to travel almost 60 miles north and west to get there!

The river crested just after lunch at 17.9 feet (the previous all-time record was set in 1941 at 15.2 feet). The water level got within a foot or two of the top of the levee. We hung out at a friend's house on the north side of town, not knowing if our house was taking on water in the basement (had the levee failed, the water level would have almost reached the second floor of our house). Fortunately, the Army Corps of Engineers did themselves proud when they built the Decorah levees and they held up beautifully. The "all-clear" was sounded about 9 pm, and we returned home to find our house--and even the basement--bone dry. Basements in houses as close as only one block away from us had started to take on water.

It was a pretty nerve-wracking and scary experience. Had the river crested just another foot higher, the impact would have been catastrophic. We feel blessed, especially with so many towns and people impacted to our south.

 

Glad to hear that you came through the flooding unscathed. Floods are nasty.

 

I, too, returned from the East yesterday, to discover that I-80 was about to be closed, and 92 was already closed.

Fortunately, where we are the sump pumps are working, and there's no deep water nearby. Glad for your good fortune. Take care.

 

Well if you want to see some photos of the Iowa City Coralville area you can checkout my site.

www.robhigareda.com/galleries/500

Its a mess but what can you do. I spent my day today sandbagging would have rather been enjoy an afternoon eating icecream If I can still move tomorrow Ill be back at it again in Coralville. Fun Fun

 

Great shots

I am very sore as well but hope to get back out in the morning...


Crazy flooding

 

I'm guessing that the Chinese restaurant where our group of MINIs stopped for lunch on the way to Galena last month is not in a very safe spot, situated near the intersection of US-6 and 1st Ave...

Thanks for the pics HR. The magnitude of the impact across the eastern half of the state is hard to fathom.

 

yeah the Chinese place is under water

 

http://img107.imageshack.us/slideshow/player.php?id=img107/2509/1213539225ead.smil
less than 1/4 mile from my house

 

^^Hopefully it stays that far away..It should now, but in any case..I hope for your sake it stays far away..

 

Thanks for the incredible flooding pics guys.

I'm recalling all of our MINI food stops over the past year...first it was the Breitbach's fire, then I hear that the Peking Buffet has flooded, then I see the pic of the Coralville Sonic under water...

If anything happens to the Log Cabin in Galena, I think I'll totally freak.

 

I met some you you last fall for the HHH drive here in WI. I'm glad to hear you folks haven't sustained the damage so many people in our states have. We had to bail water from our basement during the heaviest rains (old farmhouse with a stone foundation). Madison itself wasn't too hard hit. A town about 10 miles away me was evacuated for fear of the dam bursting. They were lucky and it held. We are all hoping for a good stretch of dry weather!

 

What an interesting observation! I wonder what it means??????? Maybe we spared Jon's Ice Cream place by not showing up.

 

well in that case who dont we like?!?!?