I'm a CR native and I'm wondering how you're all fairing?

[Connonym]

We don't have much contact with our CR relatives but I've been getting emails as recently as today that are still showing the water as high as the street signs downtown. I'm wondering, is it still that bad? I don't know how old these pix are. I admittedly don't watch a lot of TV news so I don't even know what the press is saying. I just know that seeing these pictures of my home town flooded are breaking my heart. Mercy Hospital where I was born, Quaker Oats where my dad worked for all those years. So many memories all under water. So please, tell me, is it getting better? Is the water going down? Is my town ever going to be the same? I have seen some of the comparisons to Katrina and I have to say that my only thought on that is that I've never been to NO so I have no real emotional attachment other than the horror of seeing pictures of destruction but when I see pictures of places I've been, a place I love and will always consider home, under water it shakes me to the core on a much greater level than any picture of Katrina. It's more real because it's where I'm from if that makes any sense. I know it's painful but can someone tell me how bad it really is?

Wishing you all safety, happiness, peace and a warm bed to sleep in.

[cyberswede]

1. Better, but a long recovery expected

You can check the CR Gazette online - there's a Flood 2008 section on the right with photos; I'm sure there are photos of clean-up that show that the water level has gone way down.

http://www.gazetteonline.com/

[Connonym]

3. thanks for the link and the info

I should have thought of that myself, d'oh!

[Blue Gardener]

2. Downtown Cedar Rapids was devastated

But the water is gone, rebuilding has begun, and people are determined to restore the buildings and re-open businesses.