June 8, 2008
By Scott Dochterman
The Gazette
IOWA CITY - The Iowa River slugged Iowa City and Coralville with the first round of its sudden surge Saturday, and there was no respite in sight for either locale.
Photo: Volunteers Tim Getty (left) of Cedar Rapids and Adam Okerlund (middle) of Iowa City help build a sandbag wall in the backyard of a home on Normandy Drive in Iowa City on Saturday. (Courtney Sargent/The Gazette)Flooding is expected to soar by 4 feet through Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service. At noon Saturday, the Iowa River had risen to 21.5 feet, slightly below flood stage. By Wednesday, the projections reach 25.5 feet, rising nearly a foot per day.
"It's very concerning, of course," said Rick Fosse, Iowa City public works director. "People have a couple of options. One is to sandbag; the other is to relocate — gather your key belongings and prepare your home and leave. And we're recommending that in some areas."
Fosse advised residents of Baculis and Thatcher mobile home parks to evacuate for safety and logistic reasons.
"The primary concern down there is if water comes in, and, even though many of the homes will remain above the 100-year flood elevation, they won't have access because the roads will be flooded and very likely they'll lose power as well," he said.
The Army Corps of Engineers increased outflow at Coralville Lake from 12,000 cubic feet per second to 15,000 cubic feet per second at 8 a.m. Saturday. Outflow will increase to 16,000 cubic feet per second today, 18,000 on Monday and 20,000 from Tuesday through at least Sunday, June 15.
At 710.47 feet above sea level as of 10 p.m. Saturday, Coralville Lake has reached its fifth-highest stage. The record of 716.71 feet was set July 24, 1993. Saturday's forecast had Coralville Lake reaching 712.03 feet on Friday, the second-highest on record.
There's at least a 70 percent chance of rain today, according to the weather service. Rain also is in the forecast every day through Wednesday. A flash flood watch was in effect for Johnson County.
To prepare for the impending water rise, volunteers worked side by side with residents along Coralville's Edgewater Drive on Saturday. Water submerged most of the street within two hours of Coralville Lake's 3,000-cubic-feet-per-second outflow increase.
Sandbags surrounded homes at 809 and 805 Edgewater Dr., creating almost a tunnel from the Iowa River to an inlet east of the Coralville Marriott Hotel & Conference Center.
"We're just trying to keep up," said Randy Garrett, 51, who has lived at 805 Edgewater since 1981. "We don't know what to expect."
The Coralville Marriott, which opened in August 2006, is built upon slightly higher ground, with the water creating almost a moat around it. Neither Edgewater Drive residents nor Coralville city officials are sure how the hotel will affect the river compared with the destructive flood of 1993.
"We've seen a lot of changes in this area since 1993, so we're having trouble making direct correlations between flows and elevations in '93 and flows and elevations we're seeing today," said Coralville City Engineer Dan Holderness.
"In '93, everything was different," Garrett said. "The building wasn't there. The park was flat, the water spread out. I don't know how it's going to flow, and I don't know how high it's going to be."
In '93, he said, water came from near where the Marriott now stands and spilled, rushing between 809 and 805 Edgewater Dr.
Volunteers sandbagged Saturday at various locations along the Iowa River in Coralville and Iowa City. Iowa City West's baseball and softball teams filled sandbags for more than three hours Saturday morning.
"We have a lot of manpower and easy access to them," Iowa City West baseball coach Charlie Stumpff said. "The kids came out in force."
"(Stumpff) called and said, 'Our community supports us, so we should support them back,'" said Blake Stahlecker, 18. "I'm already up at 8 o'clock. Nothing else was going on."
Volunteers and residents on Normandy Drive and several other Iowa City locations along the Iowa River anticipated the rising water and filled sandbags. The locations include the Animal Care and Adoption Center at Kirkwood Avenue and South Clinton Street; the Iowa City school bus barn, 2185 S. Gilbert St.; and Marketing Systems Unlimited, 1519 S. Gilbert St.
The Kidworks consignment store, 111 Stevens Dr., and Houseworks, a used furniture store at 1800 Stevens Dr., were surrounded by sandbags and advertised merchandise at 50 percent off flood sale prices.
Coralville Lake drew a swarm of tourists Saturday to see the high water. "I can't believe all the boats that are out," said Melissa Parsons, 21, of rural Iowa City, who's entering her senior year at the University of Northern Iowa.
Last night, the American Red Cross opened a shelter at Iowa City High School, 1900 Morningside Dr. Evacuees should enter the school at its cafeteria entrance on the northeast side. A nurse will be on site beginning this morning.
Iowa City eased parking restrictions in Manville Heights and on Ridge Road for residents living in flooded areas.
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