After the Crest: I-380 Causeway

At 1st Ave. the water, in places, was about a foot from the girders of the I-380 causeway.

After the Crest: Bridges and Boat Houses

North of the Quaker pant is a RR bridge. RR cars were parked on it in efforts to stabilize it from the strong currnet and pressure as the river flowed through. North of the bridge is the Ellis Boat House community. These are cabin homes built on individual floating platforms. Some broke loose from their moorings and floated down river, some intact, and slammed into the RR bridge adding to the pressure. As of this morning The bridge still stands.


RR Bridge with Boat houses against back side.



Depth of water at RR bridge. Sorry I had to push the exposure for detail.


Detail of Boat Houses against RR Bridge

After the Crest: Quaker Oats

Quaker Oats is one of the the biggest supplier of cereal in the nation. The silos at the plant are the biggest continuous-form-poured concrete structures in the world.



Aproching the Quaker Plant on the right. I'm on Interstate 380 (I-380) about 4 stories up on a causeway.




Parking lot with Flooded trucks




Looking into the Quaker rail yard.




Overall shot of the west end of the Quaker plant




The water all through the flood area had a very strong current.

After the Crest: Mercy Hospital

Mercy hospital sits at 10th st. and 8th Ave. It was evacuated and sand bagged Thursday night as a precaution. More than 300 people showed up at 11pm to help with sand bagging efforts that lasted into the early morning hours.

Another orientation detail of the Street system in Cedar Rapids; Streets run north/south and Avenues run East/West and both go up in number as you get further from the river. So 10th St. would be 10 blocks away from the river.



Mercy Hospital 8th Ave. Entrance



Sand bags were placed inside and out around the enterance to hold the water back. The basment and first floor were the only affected areas.



Sand bags hold back 2.5 feet of water from Mercy on 8th St.



In an emergency send in the National Guard. Thanks NG!



Looking down 8th Ave. at 10th St. The bridge in the distance is where the river should be.

Rising Water

I was first made aware of possible flooding Tuesday June 10th 2008. I went that morning to the Cedar River to photographically record the hight of the water and intended to come back everyday to the same spots to record the rising water levels. I had no idea the extent of what was about to strike the city in which I live.

To give you some reference, the building in the pictures is the built on an island in the middle of the Cedar river with bridges connecting it to the west and east sides of town.

Tuesday 8am

Wednesday 7:30am

Wednesday 8:30pm

Friday 7:30pm Looking in the opposite direction from the I-380 Bridge