In her State of the City address, Mayor Tiffany O’Donnell said it’s key for the city to work with private partners to spur growth while being the economic driver of the region as the city leans into business attraction.
As rainfall has increased — a symptom of our warming atmosphere — the frequency of flooding has intensified. Now, river-adjacent communities like Cedar Rapids are turning away from flood mitigation to instead make room for the water.
The federal government has chosen the University of Iowa to be part of a $360 million national consortium to improve flood prediction and water quality tracking across the country. Consortium will involve 14 universities, as well as other partners, and will bring funding stability to the Iowa Flood Center.
Iowa farmers received $243 million in insurance payments for flooded crops from 2001-2020, with $83 million going to five Iowa counties considered “hot spots” for the payments. Instead, that money could have “retired” nearly 12,000 flood-prone acres from farming.
The RAISE grant, awarded by the U.S. Department of Transportation, would fund much of the approximately $50 million project to replace the Eighth Avenue bridge with a cable-stayed one that could stay open over the Cedar River during extreme flooding.
Progress on $750 million flood protection system is “great story to tell back in Washington,” Rep. Hinson says after tour, but she also sees a funding gap as materials prices rise.
Development of the greenway along the Cedar River is among a handful or so of the Cedar Rapids City Council’s top priorities as an influx of funding helps accelerate construction of permanent flood protection.
Census data shows that in the three years since devastating 2019 floods submerged Pacific Junction in southwest Iowa, the town’s population has shrunk from 475 to less than 100. Now the question is whether it will remain a town.
City conducting damage assessments and providing free debris pick up
Governor also signs new version of ’ag gag’ law, over 30 other measures.
Construction upticks as local, state and federal funding streams pour more money into the city
CEDAR RAPIDS – When the Cedar River flooded over 10 square miles of the city in 2008, few property owners …
CEDAR RAPIDS – Flood threats are too familiar to Al Pierson, owner of a 92-year-old business in the Time Check …
CEDAR RAPIDS – Cedar Rapids is closing roads, parks and trails in low-lying areas in response to predicted elevated river …
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