Academic

Iowa trouble

By Tung Yin

For those of you who've been reading about the massive flooding here in Iowa in general and Iowa City in specific, yes, it is really bad.

The 380 freeway, which connects Iowa City to the airport and Cedar Rapids to the north, has been closed because of flooding where it crosses the Iowa River.  Not that there's much point to going to Cedar Rapids, since something like 400 blocks there are submerged, including the entire downtown.  To give you an idea of how bad it is, if you needed to get from Iowa City to Cedar Rapids (~20 miles), you need to take a detour via Des Moines -- which means, it's a 240 mile trip!

Traffic within Iowa City and Coralville (right next door) is horrible, and discouraged so as to leave roads clear for emergency vehicles.

For those who don't know, Iowa City is bisected by the Iowa River.  The only reliable way to get from the east side to the west side right now is to take the 80 freeway; the local bridges have been closed or are clogged and in danger of being closed at any time.

The law school has been locked shut for  at least a week . . . .

When my wife went to the supermarket earlier today, it was a madhouse.  (There are three Hy-Vees in Iowa City, but apparently two of them have been closed due to the flooding.)  People are wisely stocking up on water and food, in case the floodwater swamps the water treatment facilities.  In Cedar Rapids, for example, there's a call for water rationing.

The worst of it is that the Iowa River isn't projected to crest until Monday, which means between now and then, the water level will only continue to rise.

(For us personally, we live far enough from the river that we're not in danger of being flooded.  I feel extremely fortunate, and I can't imagine the suffering that others are going through.)

Full post as published by The Yin Blog on June 13, 2008 (boomark / email).