A new view for neighbors in flooded areas

CEDAR RAPIDS – Marc Stober was leaving for work on Tuesday morning when he heard a noise coming from next door.

“All of a sudden, you see it coming down,” said Stober as demolition crews took down the vacant home to his immediate south. “You leave to go to work and you can see the roof collapsing. It was kind of crazy.”

As of Wednesday night, a Bobcat and a dump truck worked, in unison, to pour dirt into the hole where the demolished home's basement used to be.

Now after 37 months since the Flood of 2008 changed the Time Check neighborhood forever, Stober is one who plans to stay for a long time. He bought his property in April 2008, six weeks before the floodwater rose up to nearly his entire first floor.

“I think it would've been cheaper to rip the house down and rebuild it from the ground up,” said Stober.

Neighbors can expect more demolitions in the coming weeks and months. The city of Cedar Rapids reports, as of July 26, the Community Development Block Grant programs through the city have demolished 248 structures: 81 residential houses and 167 “residential accessory structures” (such as garages).

The total FEMA demolitions completed are 765, from 2008 to 2010, including 57 garages.

“We'll continue doing the demolitions as long as the weather permits us to do it,” said Denise King-Filip, project coordinator with the city's CDBG Floor Demolition department.

According to a status report of “all CDBG (HUD) Funded Demolitions”:

• Environmental Testing:  677 of 817 residential property “environmental assessments” have been completed.

• Environmental Abatement: 573 of 817 properties have been cleared or treated for hazards.

For residential properties, the report said “demolitions are picking back up” now that the environmental abatement process is more efficient.

Back at his property in the 1200 block of 6th Street NW, Stober said he has spent plenty of time and work to build his property back. He even wanted to buy the garage of the demolished property next door but was told that he couldn't now that the federal government was involved.

“I hope they all come down because they're all an eyesore," he said.