PHOTOS: Cleanup from flood underway across the region

City crews today are removing flood debris and Tiger Dams from Sidney Street and Cottage Grove Parkway SE along Indian Creek

The Tiger Dams floated away on Thursday after being topped by floodwaters.

“No floodwall's good once water goes over the top,” said Craig Hanson, Cedar Rapids' public works maintenance manager

The devices - bladders that are filled with water - were set up primarily as an exercise for city crews and with the intention of minimizing the impact on residents, he said. They were placed in streets but did not block driveways.

“If we had known it was going to flood that bad, we would have put them somewhere else and we would have inconvenienced the residents,” Hanson said.

He noted 7 inches of rain fell during the storm system, much more than was expected.

He also said the flash flooding along Indian Creek may have exceeded 100-year flood levels, but that still needs to be verified.

Hanson said he had never seen Indian Creek flowing so fast and said the current of a creek is much greater than that of a river during a flood.

Crews have not found any broken Tiger Dams, Hanson said. City engineers will review the event and see what the optimal placement would be.

The Tiger Dams were bought after last year's record flood but are not intended to be used against flash flooding, he said.

The extent of the damage caused by flooding is not yet known. Some basements flooded and numerous homes had sewer backups, Hanson said.

Also today, city officials reported continued road closings along Otis Road, Fish Court off Old River Road and Park Road at Manhattan Park. Ellis Road, west of Edgewood Road, has pumps on it and is partially closed.

Those areas typically are covered in water when the Cedar River gets near flood stage.

J Street SW is closed because of Prairie Creek flooding. The creek is going down now. Bowling Street SW, closed Thursday, is now open. Hawkeye Downs SW is expected to open during the day.

City crews are monitoring Riverside Road SW in case they need to close for river flooding.

In Shellsburg, sandbagging and pumps saved an Alliant Energy substation and electricity was not lost, City Clerk Nancy Deklotz said. Bear Creek is back in its banks, she said.

But the city park was heavily damaged, she said. A pavilion was crushed by floodwaters, the fence around a basketball court was knocked down and a recently installed basketball hoop is lying by the creek.

Also, the opening of a new bridge over the creek, originally set for a couple of days from now, is in doubt after it was partially damaged, Deklotz said.

“We just need to kind of sit down and regroup,” she said. “And I don't want anymore rain.”

The good news is there is no heavy rain in the forecast the next few days, although a disturbance will be crossing the area this afternoon and carries the chance of isolated showers, said Andy Ervin, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in the Quad Cities.

“It should be more of a nuisance, if anything,” he said.

Between 4 inches and 10 inches of rain brought by a stationary front fell across the Cedar Rapids metro area over two days, Ervin said. By contrast, most of Minnesota and Wisconsin had sunny skies, he said.

Streams should be getting lower, he said, but as the water drains, rivers will be rising downstream, with areas closer to the Mississippi River getting the worst of it. The Wapsipinicon River at De Witt went over its major flood stage this morning and is predicted to stay there through Monday.

The Cedar River in Cedar Rapids hit its flood stage this morning but is forecast to drop below that in the early afternoon.

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