Open Dialogue

Tow Zone

I've been getting calls and emails from family and friends who live outside of Iowa. They want to see if I'm okay and if it's as bad as it looks on the news. Yes to both. Over 3/4ths of the state has been declared a disaster zone. Recently the Federal declaration went through. This means FEMA can start giving financial assistance to those directly affected.

Cedar Rapids, just 30 miles north of Iowa City has been devastated by the flood. So, we've been monitoring what has happened up there. The local TV stations have been covering the flood by interrupting regularly scheduled shows. I find that there is only so much of this coverage I can watch because it can be overwhelming.

Around 4PM yesterday the tornado sirens went off. I had seen the clouds roll in and was monitoring them from home. The TV news weatherman assured us that the clouds are too high to produce a tornado. I think people are overly cautious right now because there are thousands of people volunteering to fill and stack sandbags.

Fortunately, I live on high ground. So my stress is just what is going on around me and preparing for the possible residual affects that can happen to the city--loss of power, and ironically, loss of water.

I live 2 blocks east of the University of Iowa campus and four blocks from where the Iowa River has flooded. My neighborhood these days is like a ghost town because most of the traffic has been cut off.

Yesterday afternoon the river flooded the UI power plant. This means that MidAmerican Energy is now powering the UI in addition to Iowa City. On my street MidAmerican has put up "Tow Zone" signs as they are working to lay pipe to the UI campus. They will be working on this for the next two days.

posted by Susan @ 2:04 PM