CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) – Residents of Cedar Rapids are watching anxiously as the quickly rising Cedar River threatens to inundate their city with devastating floodwaters for the second time in just over eight years.
After days of sandbagging and erecting an extensive system of flood barriers, residents and officials in Iowa’s second largest city were simply waiting to see how high the Cedar River would rise and what impact the flood would have.
Entire neighborhoods and the downtown area were largely abandoned as residents in low-lying areas heeded the city’s call to evacuate. Schools were cancelled and many businesses were closed.
The river was expected to crest Tuesday at 23 feet, the second largest flood in the city’s history, behind only that of June 2008. The river level had risen past 20 feet by midday Monday, or 4 feet above major flood stage.
Here’s the situation in Cedar Rapids and other communities affected by the flooding: