A River Runs Over It

Iowa City is being pummeled by flooding, but people are pitching in. I helped sand bag in the peninsula area yesterday which, like City Park and Mosquito Flats is largely underwater. Sadly, many people who live in the neighborhood feel bamboozled as they were told they were out of the range of the 100 year flood plain and I was told do not qualify for flood insurance through the federal program.

Volunteers from the University of Iowa, the Iowa National Guard, members of the Parkview Baptist Church and their children, city workers, and many others filled hundreds of sandbags to try to hold back the rising water. Sandbag walls varied from as high as 15 feet to 3 feet.

It remains to be seen if these efforts are going to be enough.

Sandbagging continues today in Iowa City at:

Normandy Dr. area; Idyllwild Condos; Parkview Church, both near 15 Foster Rd.; (take I-80 exit 244- open to Foster Rd.); Water Plant, off Dubuque St. N. of I-80; Thatcher & Baculis Mobile Home Parks at 2254 S. Riverside Dr.; commercial area of S. Gilbert So. of Hwy. 6; 111 Stevens Dr.; Commercial Dr. area. Bring gloves and shovel if you have them.

Road Closings:

Park Road Bridge closed; Rocky Shore Drive closed; Dubuque St. closed between Foster Rd. and Church St.; N. Madison St. closed; Normandy Dr. closed. Use Exit 246 - Dodge Street to access downtown Iowa City. Some IC Transit routes have detours - see www.icgov.org/busdetour or call 356-5151. Thornberry Dog Park closed.

Parking is now allowed on south side of Foster Rd., south of Dubuque St. Parking restrictions in the Manville Heights area (bounded by the Iowa River on the north and west, Hwy 6 on the south and Riverside Drive on the east) and along the westerly 700 feet of Ridge Road will be temporarily suspended until further notice with the exceptions noted below. Vehicles displaced by flood waters may park on the north side of east-west streets and the west side of north-south streets until further notice. Exceptions: This does not apply to Park Road, Rocky Shore Drive, River Street, Woolf Avenue or Riverside Drive; regular parking restrictions will remain on these streets. “No Parking Here to Corner” restrictions will remain in place and be enforced.

In Coralville:

Sandbagging volunteers are needed from 8 am until 8 pm Thursday, June 11, at the Coralville Streets Department at 750 Camp Cardinal Boulevard. This is located south of Highway 6 across from McGregor's Furniture. Volunteer assistance is appreciated and gloves and shovels are recommended. The sandbags will be used by the City as they become available to protect areas deemed to be most in danger of flooding based on elevations in areas along Clear Creek.

Current street closings in Coralville are:

1. Edgewater Drive
2. 4th Avenue from Highway 6 to 5th Street