I want to give a shout out to the Cedar Rapids and Iowa City area of my state five years after
the flood. It was five years ago this morning that the waters of the Iowa River went over the top of the spillway for the second time in a 15 year period. It was a level of flooding that when it first happened in 1993 was said to be a 500 year event. This area suffered greatly. Fourteen percent of metropolitan Cedar Rapids was underwater for weeks when the river crested at 19 feet above flood level. Large areas of the city's business district were affected as was a substantial portion of the adjoining residential areas.
Iowa City is downstream from the Cedar Rapids and the dam The Fine Arts campus was underwater as was City Park and many residential areas as the swollen rivers could not absorb the waters down the many creeks that feed them. You just don't realize what is meant by flood plains until you witness a backing up of the waters that feed the great Mississippi River.
Today, a participant in a commemoration ceremony noted that 80% off the area affected in Cedar Rapids has been rebuilt or has undergone new development to prevent such catastrophic loss should it experience another one of these "500 year floods." Cedar Rapids has adopted measures to protect its water plant which they worked frantically to sandbag to prevent the water supply from becoming contaminated back then. Iowa City continues to rebuild as well. Both cities and their adjoining communities have worked to ensure that minimum damage from flooding can occur in the future by reworking their levee systems. The area is making a strong comeback.
I'm very proud of the people of my state. Strong and resourceful and fair-minded with a good sense of community and great heart. People tend to dismiss Iowa as a red state full of rubes. This state has an established history of progressive law with many firsts. I would not want to live anywhere else during the time that remains for me. Give me the rivers and plains of this state and the people who live on them. The speed with which this area is recovering is a testimony to their spirit.