Culver sees bright future for Cedar Rapdis

CEDAR RAPIDS - The future for Cedar Rapids is “incredibly bright,” despite a devastating flood last year from which the city is still struggling to recover, Gov. Chet Culver said Sunday.

“I do feel good about the progress, although there are still obstacles in the way,” he said. “I think the future is incredibly bright to rebuild smarter, to rebuild more sustainable buildings.”

The governor's remarks came during an address Sunday morning to about 50 people at an adult forum at First Presbyterian Church, 310 Fifth St. SE, in Cedar Rapids. He was invited to speak as part of the church's “A New City” discussion series.

Based on damage to the state's infrastructure, Culver said, last June's floods will rank fourth in disasters in United States history - behind the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Hurricane Katrina's impact on Louisiana and the hurricane's impact on the Gulf region. He said 88 of Iowa's 99 counties were declared federal disaster areas after the flooding.

Culver said recovery for the state as a whole will be moved forward with the help of I-JOBS, the Iowa Infrastructure Investment Initiative, which has helped funnel millions of dollars into rebuilding infrastructure.

“We're excited about moving forward on these rebuilding projects and getting people into new homes, safer homes,” Culver said. “I'm very passionate about the future of our state.”

“We are going to make the most of these horrible events,” he said. “We have no choice.”

The governor said the number of faith-based organizations that came from across the country to help in Iowa's recovery efforts continues to make a large impact. He said teams from Presbyterian Disaster Assistance as well as teams from the Seventh Day Adventist Church, Jewish Disaster Response and groups from the Southern Baptist recovery teams have all been in Iowa throughout the past year.

“We only look to the words of Luke in 6:31 - ‘Do unto others as you would have done unto you,'” Culver said. “We've repaired the lives of a lot of people with this rule.”