Kurt Warner sees devastated parts of Cedar Rapids

Lucky Me, begins a message spray painted in black on a white house in this city's Time Check neighborhood, and it wasn't at all sarcastic.

I Had Great Neighbors, the message continued. I Will Miss You All - Kathy.

Riding in an American Red Cross emergency response vehicle Wednesday, Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner got a good look at Kathy's house and so many others in his Cedar Rapids hometown that were wrecked by last month's flood of the Cedar River. He got two eyefulls of the rubble, and a snootful of the stench.

"To drive along and see the number of homes that were affected, the number of families that are going to have to start over," Warner said, "it kind of made me sick to my stomach to think of where they're going to go."

The two-time National Football League MVP didn't make any bones about his reason for being here. This was a photo opportunity, a chance to get in front of television cameras. He gave Cardinals T-shirts to people, shook lots of hands.

The visit, however, didn't appear to be about self-promotion. Rather, it was an attempt to help keep the effects of the flood in the public's consciousness.

Kurt Warner visits flood-ravaged Cedar Rapids from GazetteOnline.com on Vimeo.

"I think there's always the initial push by people to help out, whether it be corporations or individuals," Warner said. "But it becomes out of sight, out of mind.

You forget about how long it's going to take these families or this community to rebuild. Once it's not a headline or a breaking story it gets pushed in the background."

The severity of the damage is a see-it-to-believe-it deal, and Warner felt he needed to see it.

"I think it's hard, when you look at still pictures in the newspaper or you hear a report miles and miles away from a news reporter, to get a sense of what's really going on," Warner said.

"Everybody should be brought down here to drive by and see what's going on. I think that's the way you can get people to really react positively and help make an impact on the community."

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