River continues to rise as Cedar Rapids braces

PALO, Ia. — In 2008, quite a few folks around here balked when authorities told them they needed to flee their homes because floodwaters were coming. That’s less likely now, residents and officials said Saturday.

“There was a lot of resistance last time. People were like, ‘Really? It’s not actually going to get that high, is it?’” Palo resident Kim Hutchins recalled. But it did get that high, and then some. Cedar River water poured into homes, trashing belongings and leaving residents to scramble for high ground. This time, when authorities rang the alarm after last week’s upstream deluge, residents started piling their belongings into trucks and trailers and preparing to leave.

About 25 Palo homes were evacuated Saturday as thousands of eastern Iowa residents continued to brace for the rising floodwaters of the Cedar River. Sandbagging operations continued in Cedar Rapids, where evacuations are expected to begin at 8 p.m. Sunday.

Cedar Rapids officials are helping with sandbagging and evacuation efforts in Palo, and encouraged anyone who is not volunteering to avoid all affected areas.

"We’re just trying to be more proactive than we were in '08," said Palo Mayor Tom Yock, "trying to save as many homes as we can."

Hutchins’ Palo neighborhood is near the Cedar River, and it’s right next to a creek that feeds the river. She and several dozen neighbors were ordered to evacuate by late Saturday afternoon, and they weren’t disputing the need. As Hutchins packed up her kitchen, friends worked down in her basement to unhook her furnace and drag it up to her garage, where they planned to put it on concrete blocks. Her water heater was already up there, and much of her furniture was being piled onto trailers.

At least with this flood, there was time for residents to assess the seriousness of the situation, and get to work.

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“They’ve been telling us it was coming for days. Last time, we had eight or 10 hours to get out,” said Hutchins, 53, who planned to go stay with her mother.

While her friends packed trailers, a National Guard Humvee drove by, with soldiers checking on security needs. It’s the first time since 2011 that the Iowa Guard has been called up for such duty.

Evacuations recommended for 5,000 homes

In nearby Cedar Rapids, the residents of about 5,000 homes had been advised to evacuate before the floodwaters hit Monday night. Mayor Ron Corbett said in an interview that he hopes residents will heed the warning, especially after what they saw in 2008.

The evacuation is not mandatory, Cedar Rapids Fire Chief Mark English said, but is very strongly recommended. Officials, including the Iowa National Guard, will enforce an 8 p.m. Sunday to 7 a.m. Monday curfew in evacuated areas.

"We want you to today take care of your belongings and your pets (Saturday)," Corbett said. "(Sunday), we want you to take care of yourself."

MORE:  Evacuation map

Corbett said the city is advising residents to evacuate if their homes are within an area that would be inundated if the river reaches 28 feet deep. By Saturday night, the forecast crest had dropped a bit, from 25.3 feet to 24 feet. But it could depend on whether more rain falls upstream.

“You know how they say football’s a game of inches? Flood protection is definitely a game of inches,” he said.

That game of inches brought a sliver of good news elsewhere, too. Cedar Falls saw crest predictions drop more than a foot Saturday, and Waterloo saw a roughly 3-foot drop in predictions. The river was cresting at 98.5 feet Saturday evening in Cedar Falls and 22.9 feet in Waterloo.

The stakes would be even higher in Cedar Rapids if authorities hadn’t led an effort to buy out the owners of 1,350 homes that flooded in 2008. About 45 acres of green space now line the river where many of those homes once stood. Corbett said that at the time, it was the second-biggest such buyout in U.S. history, after only the New Orleans buyouts after Hurricane Katrina.

Corbett talked on a sidewalk across the street from where construction workers were filling temporary barricades with sand to try to keep floodwater from pouring into a neighborhood near downtown. The area was supposed to be protected by a floodwall by now, but the city’s huge flood-protection project has been held up by a lack of millions of federal dollars.

Who is responsible for flood aid?

The mayor met on the sidewalk Saturday with a cluster of fellow government officials, led by Gov. Terry Branstad and the state’s two U.S. senators. Branstad, speaking up to be heard over the roar of front-end loaders and the beeping of dump trucks, said he understood federal officials’ desire to ensure floodwalls and levees are cost-effective. The Republican governor generally touts small government, but he said in this case, state and local officials have pledged to do their part, and the federal government should step up, too.

“They have a responsibility in terms of public safety,” he said. “And they’ve spent a lot of money on other things in other places.”

State Rep. Art Staed pressed Iowa’s members of Congress on the issue in a meeting in Cedar Rapids earlier Saturday. The Cedar Rapids Democrat said residents are frustrated by the delays in building permanent flood protections.

“We need a long-term solution to this,” Staed said.

U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, an Iowa Republican, pledged earlier Saturday that the state’s congressional delegation would continue pressing for federal officials to change the way they judge the cost-effectiveness of such projects. Iowa officials have contended Cedar Rapids has been shortchanged because property values are lower here than in some coastal areas that also flood.

“I’ll tell you, we are doing everything humanly possible,” to get the federal money for Cedar Rapids, Ernst said.

Corbett, Cedar Rapids’ mayor, noted that other projects have helped the city prepare for a big flood. For example, electrical lines and the city’s drinking-water system have been protected so they won’t fail the way they did in 2008, he said.

Other preparations in the city have included evacuating the county jail, whose inmates were being taken Saturday to other jails. Also, Linn County court proceedings will temporarily be held in Jones County.

Earlier Saturday, the governor, senators and other officials visited other affected towns, including Shell Rock. There, local officials talked about the cleanup that would commence soon, as the Shell Rock River began to recede from a Friday crest that broke its 2008 record by more than a foot.

Local leaders said several Shell Rock homes were damaged, either directly by floodwater or by sewer backups. But they said the damage would have been worse if more than two dozen homeowners hadn’t accepted government buyouts of their flooded properties in the past. Butler County Emergency Management Director Mitch Nordmeyer said some homeowners are wary of buyouts at first, but they become more open to the idea after repeatedly being flooded out. “I think we’ll probably see a lot of that this round,” he said.

In northern Butler County, many people are still unable to get into their homes, Sheriff Jason Johnson said.

About 80 homes were affected to varying degrees by flooding in Greene, as well as some businesses. About 20 to 30 homes were affected in Shell Rock, Johnson said.

Clarksville was also significantly affected, he said, though he couldn’t provide an exact number of homes flooded.

“They got beat up pretty bad,” he said of Clarksville, noting a levee broke last week.

On Saturday evening, Johnson was in DuMont, preparing for the possibility of some flooding of the West Fork Cedar River or Hartgrave Creek there, he said.

“If this floods, it will affect a very small number of homes,” Johnson said of DuMont. “I think we’re in pretty good shape. If it does flood, it should be manageable.”

Register reporter Charly Haley contributed to this report.

Shelter opened in Cedar Rapids

The Red Cross opened a shelter Saturday at Cedar Hills Community Church, 6455 E Avenue N.W. in Cedar Rapids, organization spokesman Peter Teahen said.

Displaced residents can stay there and receive meals and physical and mental health care. Teahen reminded people to bring pillows, blankets and any medication they might need. The Red Cross has plans to open more shelters in the coming days.

Teahen also urged people to check on their neighbors, especially those who are disabled.

Cedar Rapids officials will hold another press conference at 10 a.m. Sunday.

To receive frequent updates and warnings about Iowa flooding on your smartphone, download the Des Moines Register app and enable push notifications.