Cedar Rapids | Kim Cook, Photographer

Jul 1 2009

One year Anniversary of the Cedar Rapids Flood

A few weeks ago, Dan and I traveled to Cedar Rapids, Iowa for a wedding. During our visit, we stopped by to visit Dan’s childhood friend and his wife. Heidi and Ron were frantically cleaning up their yard for a party they were throwing the next day. It seemed like the usual panic state most hosts are in when preparing for a celebration, but more emotional. The one year anniversary of “the flood”, as locals call it, was the next day and Heidi and Ron were celebrating their good fortune to be back in their home after the Cedar River buried their house in mud and water. Heidi barely held back her tears as she showed me the photos of what her vintage home looked like the day she and Ron returned. It was the good thinking of Heidi’s aunt that saved the family photos. ”We were told by our neighbors that only our basement would flood and just get everything off the floor.” Heidi explains. Her aunt disagreed and started gathering their pictures and personal treasures to take with them, leaving behind clothing and personal amenities. ”We truly believed we would be home within a day or two,” Ron said. “We didn’t have clothes or shoes to wear to work.” It was a week later, after the Cedar River rose to twenty feet above the flood stage, that it was safe enough for families to return to their homes. Ron and Heidi’s house was among the thousands that was inhabitable. The water rose above the doors and stayed there for several days giving way to mold and mildew. Ron and Heidi’s house was stripped to the studs and rebuilt by the kindness of their community. Most of the unique architecture of their 1920’s house was missing from their renovation, but the same love fills their home none the less. After our visit, Dan and I drove thru the city blocks that were swallowed by muddy waters. I find it hard to believe that so many folks had to walk away from their homes because of the lack of assistance. As I walked thru the neighborhood, I spoke to a single mother of three who owed only ten more payments on her home. She and her late husband bought the home over sixteen years ago and now it has been condemned. This mother and her three children now lives in a FEMA trailer outside of the city with no hopes of returning home. ”The flood” crested over 31 feet swallowing 1,300 city blocks, destroying the personal belongings of over 4,000 families causing $1.5 billion dollars in damage. A total of $5.7 billion dollars in flood related damages to the county. As of December 2008, $655 million in aide was provided by federal, state and local insurance sources leaving a gap of around $5 billion. If you know me, you know I am not big on organized religion. But if it were not for good people in local churches of Cedar Rapids, families such as Heidi and Ron could never return home. It is these organizations that are filling the gap.