Breaking news:at leasta 10,000 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, ordered to evacuate, official tells NBC News

[sabbat hunter]

Source: MSNBC

Breaking...

Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25020185/

[blue cat]

1. because why?

at work so can't check.

[babylonsister]

2. I heard there's a break in the levee. nt

[Blue Diadem]

3. here's a link

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3436169

flooding is awful

[Recursion]

37. Because when white people's levees break...

...the government makes sure they can get out of there.

[Thothmes]

40. Maybe they just realized earlier that they could not rely

on government to save their asses.

[cyberswede]

4. power out all over in CR

They're transferring hospital patients to Iowa City. This flood is unbelievable!

I'm in Iowa City, about 20 miles south of CR, and we've got terrible flooding already, with major record-breaking water levels on the way.

My sister is having trouble finding a route heading North for her Minnesota vacation - so many roads closed.

[Blue Diadem]

7. I just heard the interview on MSNBC..they're saying 500 yr flood level

OMG, it sounds awful. Stay safe cyberswede.

[tnlurker]

9. Didn't they have one of those about 15 years ago?

Wasn't that what they called the flood in the mid 90's...a once in 500 years occurance?

[Blue Diadem]

14. I don't know. I think it was the Gov. who was saying it this time.

I know the one in 93 was bad.

[Inspired]

29. This is worse than in '93.

In '93 we lost our water supply in Des Moines. At that time we were the largest metropolitan area ever to lose water to its residents. It was 2 weeks before we were able to take showers, drink from the tap, flush toilets, etc. It was a mess.

The water supply doesn't seem to be in danger this time around.

Funny how too much water can lead to no water!

[RaRa]

20. Would that be under Clinton's FEMA

that actually did a good job? "sigh".

[CherokeeDem]

11. Be safe to you and your fellow residents....

this is really terrible.

[paparush]

23. About the time that St. Louis is beachfront.

[kickitup]

13. Stay safe. n/t

[cascadiance]

35. They've already broken record levels, but it will go higher still...

[skooooo]

5. When is this nightmare going to end????

[sarcasmo]

33. When Jesus says it will, haven't we already learned that about Mother nature.

[MaryEllen71]

6. I saw yesterday on the news

that these floods are going to be worse than the 1993 floods. My heart goes out to them. :grouphug:

[Viva_Daddy]

10. Where is FEMA?

I've heard nothing in the news about what FEMA is doing to help these people (if at all). Is this going to be another Katrina? You'd think FEMA would want to do something to repair its damaged reputation. But then maybe the "compassionate conservatives" really don't give a damn afterall.

[CherokeeDem]

12. The idiot head of FEMA just...

had a news conference and of course, they are doing everything necessary to assist the victims. Yeah...right.

[Ilsa]

18. Does FEMA even have any manpower to tackle disasters like this

any more? Do they have the supplies? The people? The transportation? Did Bush defund them? BTW, is the National Guard there for them?

[Zachstar]

8. This is a disaster.

My heart goes out to the people affected.

When is it going to end? Everything is going wrong at once!

[DogPoundPup]

15. Railroad bridge spanning the Cedar River collapses

CEDAR RAPIDS - Photo added: The Cedar Rapids and Iowa City Railway Co. bridge downstream from the Eighth Avenue bridge collapsed into the river at 9:43 a.m.

http://www.gazetteonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080612/NEWS/88202635/1006/news

[Shoelace]

19. video of train bridge collapse & flooding on YouTube

I've been watching CNN's excellent coverage of the flooding there as well as the Boy Scout camp that got wiped out. My heart goes out to those who are going through this mess. My family and I were in multiple floods in N. California in '72 but it was never even close to this.
The bridge collapse is about 3 minutes into this 5+ minute video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRM3KOHOHqk

[superxero044]

16. I'm in Iowa City

And I work for and am a student at the University of Iowa. The Iowa river isn't as bad as the Cedar river but it is certainly bad here as well. And from all accounts the flooding in many areas - particularly Cedar Rapids is much worse than 1993. So far I don't know of any major assistance from FEMA and pretty much the University is paying its employees to leave their normal jobs and help sandbag.

For information on the Iowa City flooding our local newspaper has a lot of information http://www.press-citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage.

I really hope we can see some reprieve in the near future but they are saying that the Iowa River is going to go up 6 more feet before it crests. This is getting very close to turning into a serious crisis as they are probably going to close down I-80 tomorrow where it goes over the Cedar river, and most of the bridges in Iowa City are closed, it takes me about 3 times as long as it normally would to drive to work.

I am not a man of faith by any means but I beseech those who are to offer their prayers to ours and other communities affected by this terrible flooding.

Thanks

[JerseygirlCT]

21. Oh my

That sounds terrible. And very frightening - plus add in the very unsettled weather...

I will be thinking about and praying for you all.

[kestrel91316]

42. I can't PM you so I'll ask you here:

Do you know the status of any apartments in the 700 block of Emerald Street? My niece was there (grad student at U of I) last year and she is in Costa Rica for the summer. I don't know if she has kept her apartment or moved out and put all in storage as she has one more year to go.....

[Bettie]

17. Downtown is pretty much closed....

Many neighborhoods are evacuated and small towns all over the area are also evacuated, either in part or totally.

We're lucky to live in a town on higher ground (about 40 miles W of CR), but DH is not able to go into his office until the first floor is no longer water-filled! He's also looking forward to tearing out carpet and drywall next week instead of doing his regular cube-rat job.

The flooding is ugly and the river through CR hasn't even crested yet!

[Shoelace]

22. latest NWS Flood warnings for these areas (rivers are past record flood levels)

Cedar Rapids, Iowa; I'm looking at the hydrological graph for the river that runs through this city now. It's expected to crest at 24.7 ft. Highest it's ever been is 20 ft in 1851. 1993's flood was 19+ft. NOAA calls many of these floods "Historical" and indeed, they are. Here's the link to the graphs, historical data, etc.
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/ahps2/hydrograph.php?wfo=dvn&gage=cidi4&view=1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1

Here's NWS warnings for Cedar Rapids today:

FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
246 PM CDT THU JUN 12 2008

.EXTREME RAINFALL ACROSS IOWA THE PAST WEEK HAS PUSHED MANY RIVERS
INTO FLOOD.

RIVER FORECASTS TAKE INTO ACCOUNT PAST PRECIPITATION...AS WELL AS
PRECIPITATION AMOUNTS EXPECTED 24 HOURS INTO THE FUTURE FROM THE
FORECAST ISSUANCE TIME.

SAFETY MESSAGE...IF YOU ENCOUNTER A FLOODED ROADWAY...TURN AROUND
AND FIND AN ALTERNATE ROUTE. TURN AROUND...DON/T DROWN.

ADDITIONAL RIVER AND WEATHER INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE AT...
HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/QUADCITIES .

IAC019-113-130745-
/O.EXT.KDVN.FL.W.0144.000000T0000Z-080618T0000Z/
/IDPI4.3.ER.000000T0000Z.080611T2330Z.080616T1200Z.NO/
246 PM CDT THU JUN 12 2008

...FLOOD WARNING NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL TUESDAY EVENING...

THE FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES FOR
THE WAPSIPINICON RIVER AT INDEPENDENCE.
* UNTIL TUESDAY EVENING.
* AT 2:30 PM THURSDAY THE STAGE WAS 18.3 FEET...AND RISING.
* MAJOR FLOODING IS OCCURRING.
* FLOOD STAGE IS 12 FEET.
* FORECAST...RISE TO 18.6 FEET FRIDAY MORNING. FALL BELOW FLOOD STAGE
MONDAY MORNING.
* IMPACT...AT 18 FEET...WATER AFFECTS 1ST STREET AND REACHES THE
BOTTOM OF THE IOWA HIGHWAY 150 BRIDGE DECK.
http://forecast.weather.gov/showsigwx.php?warnzone=IAZ052&warncounty=IAC113&firewxzone=IAZ052&local_place1=Cedar+Rapids+IA&product1=Flood+Warning

[librarycard]

26. I wonder why god doesn't like Cedar Rapids, IA

Maybe the Boy Scouts of America has an answer.

[jonestonesusa]

24. Thanks for posting this...

Awful news, though. This sounds even bigger than the flood in the early 90s. All prayers to our good neighbors in Iowa.

[librarycard]

27. Sandbags would be more helpful than prayers

crossed fingers or "thumbs up" would be the equivalent of "eyes to skies"

[jonestonesusa]

39. Thanks, neighbor!

You sure told me!

BTW, donations to DU are more helpful than miserly snark.

[Theres-a]

25. So sad. nt

[librarycard]

28. Yep, it is that.

Maybe Iowans will get a clue about global warming.

[Tesha]

30. The sad part is, they probably won't. (NT)

[Theres-a]

31. Well

Aren't you an asshole.Compassion isn't in your vocabularity is it?Psycho.

[librarycard]

32. Every relative I know is in Iowa

and they're all wingers. Maybe when their own lake floods, or drains, they'll figure it out. Sometimes you have to lose everything for the cobwebs to clear. It's not a matter of compassion.

Asshole back at ya! :)

[theEmpireNeverEnded]

36. if you're so sure

that we're all really such a bunch of wingnuts here in Iowa how do you explain this:

http://www.electoral-vote.com/evp2008/Pres/Graphs/iowa.html

Obama 45%

McCain 38%

Maybe you should keep your opinions to yourself if you don't have anything nice to say to people whose homes are being flooded.

[Theres-a]

38. Right on.

Stay safe.

[kestrel91316]

43. Iowa City, home of U of I, is a pretty darned liberal place by Midwestern

standards. They hate Bush, and have a clue about global warming. My niece who goes to school there is probably even more of a fire-breathing liberal than I am, and that's hard to do.

[cascadiance]

34. I used to commute to Cedar Rapids from Iowa City and almost ran into a tornado..

... in one of my commutes to work at a TV station there where I worked there that is downtown amongst all of those floods. I was one of two vehicles I could see on the road and I was a Honda Accord while what was in front of me was a semi that was tipping 30 degrees sideways to the tornado's winds on the other side of an overpass I was coming up near the Kirkwood College exit. I pulled over to the side under the overpass to wait until it passed then in one of the most frightening moments of my life (and I was in the Bay Area also for Loma Prieta earthquake too).

And now I wonder if I was working there today, if for once I can say that I would have preferred that commute experience to what might be in store for those trying to work at that downtown TV station today (though perhaps they can't get there). I wonder how they are running those TV stations now in this devastation. I wonder if they are broadcasting from another location? Hoping that John Campbell, who's still the sports anchor there now from when I worked with him then is doing OK...

[emmadoggy]

45. Hey, Calipendence...

You used to work for KCRG?? My hubby worked there for a very short time in 1995.

I'm not a big fan of them, but I will say that they are doing an INCREDIBLE job right now during the floods. They've been on the air non-stop all day, commercial-free providing coverage. John Campbell was on showing aerial footage so he is ok.

The station lost power when they had to shut down the power to downtown, but they are running on a generator. No A/C etc. But they are doing a fantastic service to the community right now. I'm not sure if the water ever reached them during the crest, but I know they mentioned on Thursday that it was only about half a block away.

[Dont_Bogart_the_Pretzel]

41. Where? all I see is TimRussert TimRussert TimRussert

TimRussert TimRussert TimRussert

I know..........me bad.....but.....TimRussert TimRussert TimRussert TimRussert


EDIT<: OH MSNBC.COM not T.V. /silly me/

[bullwinkle428]

44. First death being reported as the result of the flood in CR -

59-year-old woman found in her flooded basement. The cause of death is unknown at this time... :(