Cedar River at Cedar Rapids projected to crest above 17 feet Tuesday evening

Cedar Rapids hasn't escaped the chance of some flooding, quite yet.

As of Saturday,the latest projections by the National Weather Service have the Cedar River at Cedar Rapids cresting at 17.4 feet at 5 p.m. Tuesday.

This is up only slightly from a Friday projection of 17.3 feet, also slated for Tuesday. Major flood stage for the river in Cedar Rapids is considered to be 16 feet.

You can continue to monitor levels in real time by visiting this site.

If the trend lines follow as projected, the river will eclipse 16 feet in Cedar Rapids on Monday night, only receding to below major flood stage late Wednesday. River levels are continually reassessed factoring in previous rainfall, so there is a chance this projection will be lowered over time with clear to sunny skies emerging for most of Friday through Sunday. There is, it should be noted, some rain forecasted for Monday and Tuesday.

Following the previous flooding scare in early September the city mobilized protections for a flood reaching 18 feet.

According to a media release Friday, the city has protection measures already in place for flood waters up to 16 feet, which includes installing plugs in the underground storm sewer system and stationing pumps to be used as needed. Underground plugs prevent water from backing up into the storm sewer system and flooding roadways, according to the release.

City staff are also staging equipment and will evaluate protection levels this weekend based on updated crest projections, according to the release. The release states that city employees can quickly build protection up to 18 feet as needed, which includes some above-ground measures such as installing HESCO barriers in low-lying areas.