Cedar River expected to rise above flood stage next week

City crews are preparing for what could be in for a remarkably high Cedar River next week, but Craig Hanson wants to make one thing clear.

“None of this is ever like June of ‘08,” Hanson, the city's public works maintenance director, said Tuesday afternoon.

If not that historic 31.1-foot crest, how about March 1929's 20-footer?

“We don't see that, either,” said Hanson. “Could it be? It depends on how much rain comes in the next several days. Right now, we don't have that.”

The National Weather Service's Tuesday afternoon flood prediction, based on river conditions and rainfall expected over the next 24 hours, calls for the river to rise above its 12-foot flood stage at Cedar Rapids next Monday afternoon. With rain, at times heavy, expected through the weekend, Hanson thinks the river could be 5 feet higher than the official prediction.

“Based on the predicted crest for Waterloo, we would expect a 17 to 17.5-foot crest, very similar to the April of 2008 flood, almost identical,” Hanson said. “If it is identical to that flood, it doesn't impact very many people.”

The rise predicted by Hanson would close Robbins Lake Park and areas along Old River Road SW Thursday or Friday and Otis Road SE Sunday or Monday. Ellis Road NW could be overrun by Monday or Tuesday.

Crews have already begun loading standpipes to haul to manholes and storm drains in low-lying neighborhoods where they'll be installed later this week. Storm drains are being cleaned today so plugs can be quickly installed to prevent water from flowing backward from a high river.

“Normally we do this after the first heavy spring rain, but we never got a good rain to clean them out,” Hanson said. “We're going to have to clean them out the old-fashioned way.”

If the rise continues as expected, storm-drain plugs will be installed this weekend and crews will go on round-the-clock shifts.

The situation could be complicated by ice jams, but Hanson said crews haven't spotted any large chunks of ice in the river between Palo and Cedar Rapids.

A practice session with the Tiger dams, portable barriers purchased after the June 2008 flood, will go ahead as scheduled Thursday morning, but won't be as extensive as first planned, Hanson said.

“We're going to have people out doing real stuff,” he said.