Some (ok, a few) people have asked what the town looks like three weeks after the Cedar River crested, so here’s a few quick shots from downtown on my lunch hour. At crest, the river stopped just about midway along the block between the railroad tracks and 5th Street SE- that’s five blocks away and nearly 30 feet in elevation from where it’s supposed to be.
Nearly every downtown building has stuff like this parked out front. The silver machine is an industrial-strength dehumidifier (there are plenty bigger than this one), powered by the trailer-mounted portable diesel generator at left.
Much heavy debris removal – furnishing, carpet, wallboard, plaster, etc., appears finished, but you have to lower the humidity before rebuilding to prevent mold formation. I don’t know about this particular building, but the county Public Health teams are measuring humidity levels over 50 percent in flood-damaged homes. That has to be brought under 20 percent to prevent mold. Businesses (or their insurance companies) are bringing in these. Homeowners are just letting them sit to dry out – plus, most of those lucky enough to get back in their homes are still in the tear-out phase.
The humidifiers breathe through these tubes, pulling out damp air and leaching out the moisture.
If you’re a railroad expecting a flood, what you do is, you park a bunch of freight cars loaded with stone on your bridge. Sometimes this works. Cedar Rapids and Iowa City (CRANDIC) Railway bridge downstream from the Eighth Avenue bridge.
Will shoot & post photos from other neighborhoods as soon as I can.
