15th Anniversary of the 2008 Floods

Featuring Eastern Iowa women who have experienced powerful paths of achievement for themselves, their families and their communities.

A lifelong fascination with amphibians and care for wildlife ultimately led to Mary Beth Stevenson’s current job of restoring and preserving wetlands in the Cedar Rapids area.

For decades, the Riverside Roundhouse was a staple of Cedar Rapids’ historic Czech Village neighborhood. The circular structure, built in 1963, served as a neighborhood center for farmers markets, weddings and community events. Then came the flood.

The two projects will add a combined 48 units to western Cedar Rapids in previously flood-ravaged areas.

Funds will support new levee in NW Cedar Rapids, road reconstruction and more.

After the 2008 floods, the Iowa Legislature set aside about $1.2 million a year for the University of Iowa to develop a statewide flood monitoring system. Now, the Iowa Flood Information System is considered one of the best flood warning systems in the country.

Longtime Matthew 25 leader Clint Twedt-Ball will step down July 15.

Hundreds of volunteers assisted in almost 40 home repair projects in Cedar Rapids this week for the 10th annual Transform Week.

Preference will be given to financially feasible proposals that focus on residential and/or commercial development.

Communities across Wisconsin are testing the economic value of grant programs to build new wetlands that reduce flooding risk. In the upper Midwest, researchers found that wetlands save nearly $23 billion a year that would otherwise be spent combating floods.

A tenth revision of the 2015 Cedar Rapids Flood Control System master plan was approved last week by the city council. The plan’s intent is to mitigate flooding so an event like the catastrophic 2008 Cedar River flood doesn’t happen again.

The bill includes language to help accelerate progress on the Cedar River flood protection system.

Mike Barnhart, the outgoing chief executive officer of Horizons Family Services, had come to Cedar Rapids in the throes of severe drug addiction to pursue sobriety in earnest.

Boathouses on the Cedar River date back to the 1880s. Generations of families have called the buoyant neighborhood home in the summers, and enjoy boating and spending time on the river.

Created after 2008 flood, center’s tools have been used 5 million times.