Over 5,000 residents in Cedar Rapids, Iowa have already been asked to evacuate their homes, as the City of Five Seasons settles in for what could be the second worst flood in its history.
A Galesburg native is among the city’s residents and volunteers from afar who are lending a hand, sandbagging around town and helping homes and businesses in need. Teresa Wake is a 1981 graduate of Galesburg High School and has lived in Cedar Rapids since the 80’s.
She’s also no stranger to floods.
While the Cedar River is expected to crest today at 23 feet, in 2008 the crest hit a record breaking 31.12 feet–a mark Wake tells WGIL was devastating.
“For a little bit you’re just numb, like, did this really happen?,” Wake says. “Then, kind of like any good mid-westerner you pull yourself up by the boot straps and everyone chips in to help.”
Wake says that mentality has helped Cedar Rapids prepare this year, as best they can. Though it’s scary, Wake says residents are staying positive.
“There’s just a lot of hope that we’ll have it covered,” Wake says. “A lot of the concern is just to make sure everybody is safe.”
Cedar Rapids has put in preventative measures since 2008. They’ve raised their water treatment facilities, protected electrical substations and have enacted roughly $5 million worth of temporary flood walls this past week.
But temporary is the key word. According to the Cedar Rapids Gazette, it would cost nearly $500 million to enact permanent flood protection. Protection in place is projected to handle a crest of 26 feet.
