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VIM Iowa 2009

VOLUNTEER IN MISSION (VIM) TRIP TO Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Sept 12-26, 2009

SEE PHOTOS HERE FROM OUR TRIP AND PREPARATIONS! 

The mission trip is over, and all volunteers have returned.

It was quite an experience, and we would all do it over in a flash.

Now that I have been there, I know that the photo on the right shows downtown Cedar Rapids on the left side, with the river diagonally through the center, the island for city buildings on the right, and the interstate bridge horizontally through the photo.  This photo was taken before or after the peak of the flood, as other bridges are still visible.  At the peak, only the interstate bridge was above water.  That line of things in the lower left?  That's the railroad bridge, with houseboats battering it until it failed.  A bridge becomes a dam when the water gets to it.
 

BACKGROUND: Iowa Flood
June 2008

Flooding in Iowa covered 83 of the 99 counties. Red Cross categorized the Iowa Floods as a Level 5 Disaster (Katrina is considered a Level 6)

In Cedar Rapids alone,

  • Extent of Flooding: 10 square miles (1300 square blocks) – 14% of Cedar Rapids under water.
  • 18,623 people (15% of Cedar Rapids’ 125,000 population) – evacuated from homes.
  • 1834 displaced elementary and secondary students – require school reassignments.
  • 5390 homes impacted by the flood -- require short- and long-term solutions.
  • 594 businesses with 9000 employees – displaced for undetermined duration

For more information on Storm Recovery, click here.

You can see two videos produced by the Iowa Annual Conference: