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Flood of 2016: Sandbagging, covered roads and closed bridge, County declared a disaster area
by Gregory R. Norfleet · News · September 29, 2016
With word that heavy rains coming from northern Iowa would swell the Cedar River, Gov. Terry Branstad on Friday declared Cedar County and 12 others disaster areas to rush state resources to help those downstream, including Rochester.
The original prediction put the Cedar River — which normally runs 6.5 to 7 feet deep — at 25 feet, 3 inches by Tuesday, Sept. 27. That crest prediction dropped Sunday morning to 23 feet, though still 16 to 17 feet above normal levels.
Flood waters rose to 13 feet by Friday, nearly 14 feet by Saturday and passed 15 feet by Sunday before rising rapidly Monday and Tuesday to the expected peak. At about 7 p.m. Monday, the river rose to about 20 feet and Cedar County Secondary Road Department moved in to erect barricades and close the Rochester bridge over the Cedar River.
However, the bridge that takes Interstate 80 over the Cedar River did not close, though the Iowa Department of Transportation would keep an eye on the water levels, according to IDOT spokesperson Andrea Henry.
Cedar County Engineer Robert Fangmann said the county wanted to wait until the water reached the lower girders of the bridge, keeping it open until the risk of debris striking the bridge became too great.
As the paper went to press Tuesday night, the water was expected to hit its crest and take two to three days before dropping back to normal levels.
Rochester experienced its worst flooding in history in 2008, when the water crested at 31.12 feet. Dozens of families moved away and sold their property to the government, yet some still remain within reach of the predicted crest of 2016.
A man from New Boston, who declined to give his name, received help from two friends Friday separating wooden decks from trailer homes to get the trailer homes out of danger. At the time, the river was expected to crest at 24 feet, 1 inch.
“We got concerned this morning,” he said, referring to when he heard the crest level prediction. “That puts six to eight feet of water on our property.”
Cedar County Emergency Management Director Tim Malott said there is no river gauge in Rochester, so he makes estimates based on the gauges in Cedar Rapids to the north and Conesville to the south. If the water reaches a certain level in Cedar Rapids, he said, that same level is likely to reach Rochester 12 hours later.
However, there are landmarks in Rochester that give county staff an idea of the river’s depth. At 18.63 feet deep, the lowest part of West Rochester Road, which runs along the west side of the Cedar River on the north side of 290th Street, will flood. The river reached this depth about 1:30 p.m. Monday.
On the south side of 290th Street, the lowest point of Atalissa Road will flood when the water reaches 20.3 feet. The river reached this depth about 7:15 p.m. Monday.
On Friday, Ed Cox, who lives on the west side of the Cedar River in Rochester, had his propane take removed from his property by AgVantage FS Inc. so it would not float away in the flood. Residents also on that side of the river spent the day filling sandbags or moving items to higher ground either nearby or to other towns.
Some residents complained that the sand and bags came late or too little by Friday morning, but Cedar County brought larger piles of both that afternoon, Cedar County EMA Area Commander Brad Gaul said. The Cedar County EMA broke up the river into three sections and Gaul, a county board member, oversees the area that includes Rochester and the stretch of river that runs south of there to Interstate 80.
“We’ll always get them more sand,” he said.
He said he remembers in 2008 that “nobody had a clue” what to do to prepare, and residents were “scared” of what was to come. This year, with water levels more than eight feet lower, more time to get ready and a better plan in place, residents are “nervous,” yet “as prepared as they can be,” Gaul said.
Malott agreed, saying “people are taking this much more seriously than 2008.”
Malott and utility companies Iowa Electric and Alliant Energy met Monday to determine at what point it would become necessary to shut off power to flooded areas. Gaul said they want to try to keep the power on as long as possible for refrigerators and freezers.
“Can you believe we’re having a flood in (September)?” Gaul added. The 2008 flood came in June.
Retired minister Fr. Dennis Martin lives on the west side of the river in Rochester, right on the river’s edge. In 2008, the river covered his basement and entered the main floor, so he hired contractors to install a basement-level concrete deck and a four-foot concrete wall.
The concrete deck extends a few feet closer to the river than the wall, and a wire fence on the lip of the deck reaches a few inches higher than the wall. Martin said Malott predicts the water will reach the height of the fence.
So, Martin and friend John Testin of West Liberty increased the height of the wall with sandbags, tarp and plastic. Martin also disconnected the furnace, washer and dryer and hauled them up to the main floor.
Should the water leak through the makeshift wall, Martin said it should be easy to clean up the basement later.
“It’s just water,” he said. “Not silt.”
Chris Fraunholtz, who rents the Old Tavern on the west side for her home, said she moved in about a year ago to help the property owner, a friend, finish cleaning up from the 2008 flood.
“And now this,” she said.
She, her neighbors and her father focused their efforts on clearing out the bottom level and moving the larger items to her father’s home in Cedar Valley, high up from the river.
“Everybody gets together and helps each other,” she said.
However, Frauenholtz said getting ready for a flood is “worse than moving” because of the time limitations.
Reggie Kruse and wife Mindy moved into their home on the east side about a year ago, coming from Davenport. With a back yard right on the river’s edge, he expected the shed to flood, but not the house. The previous house flooded in 2008, was torn down and rebuilt to Federal Emergency Management Agency standards for a 100-year flood event, lifting the main level several feet higher than before.
Kruse said living in Davenport helped him get used to flooding from the Mississippi, and he regularly checks online flood charts. With a 6-month-old baby who just came out of surgery last week, “we hoped it would be three or four years before it flooded.”
He predicts using a sump pump in the basement, but “only for a day or two.”
A block away, Teresa Salyers and about 10 others filled sandbags with sand left by Cedar County. At the time, the group needed more traffic cones to act as funnels, saw horses and ladders. The ladders would lay across the saw horses and hold upside-down traffic cones (with tips cut off for faster filling). And they needed volunteers as well.
Salyers’ parents lost their home to the 2008 flood. The mailbox remains, and she remembers the water coming up high enough to underline “Salyers” on the top.
“I’m grateful we got more of a warning” this year, she said.
However, she noted that the 2014 flood, far less severe, brought out more people to help sandbagging efforts.
“This year, there’s hardly anybody,” she said.
Malott said that after the water recedes, after the immediate threat of the flood to residents, the next concern is mosquitoes breeding in standing water, like old tires, containers and gutters.
“After Wednesday, we enter recovery mode,” he said.
Gaul said that once the water returns to its banks, the county will assess the damage and see what is needed to return to normal.
The governor’s disaster proclamation activates the Iowa Individual Assistance Program for residents in those counties. The IIAP provides grants of up to $5,000 for families with incomes up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level, or an income up to $40,320 for a family of three. The grants can pay for repairs to a home or car, replacing clothing or food, or cover the cost of temporary housing.
For more information in IIAP, visit the Iowa Department of Human Services web site. Applicants must submit a claim within 45 days of Sept. 23, when the disaster proclamation was signed.
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