July 02, 2008
*Flood Update
I've had a few people email me about this, and since I'm lazy, I'm basically reposting what I sent them.
It's an update on the flood situation up in here:
There are still roads here that are closed because of water over them. The river and creek (normally 100 yards from my building) are going down very slowly. There is still quite a bit of standing water in places like the softball complex and on the arts campus. The city of Cedar Rapids is going to demolish about 300 homes...the city of Iowa City may buy out the riverside neighborhood that flooded both this year and in 1993 and demolish those homes, enlarging City Park.
Every business in my neighborhood was flooded, so I have to go further away for Walgreen's, the bank, gas, laundry, etc. I was off work for three weekends (I work Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays) in a row--the first was because they had refinished the floors and it took longer than expected, so the building was closed. The second and third were because of everything being closed. So even though I totally and completely lucked out with my apartment, I still took a financial hit.
My apartment complex is getting to be a ghost town. Some people who got water had to leave, some chose to leave, and the non-students who live here have had their leases terminated to make up for the buildings lost in the complex...in order to make sure there is housing for students in the fall. It is unclear right now whether or not one of the larger dorms will be cleaned up in time for the start of school.
Overall, it's pretty much a mess. It literally stinks. And my car is basically covered in poo, since I drive through areas that have dried flood muck on the roads. Nasty, eh?
Tweet
Jew