Flood damage to Cedar Rapids likely $1 billion

The Gazette Online (Cedar Rapids, Iowa): City officials last night estimated the cost to clean up and repair or replace flood-damaged city buildings and other infrastructure at $504 million. In addition, the officials estimated that it would cost another $810 million to protect the city against future floods through an assortment of mitigation efforts like levees, floodwalls, a possible reservoir and property buyouts. City Manager Jim Prosser called the numbers "staggering."

"And we're still counting," Prosser said.

He spoke in billions: half a billion dollars for cleanup, repair and replacement; $1.3 billion in total including future flood protection. Prosser said the city couldn't begin to tackle the costs on its own. "This size of loss, we can't cash flow this unless the federal government gives us money," he said. "We're going to have serious problems ... We want the public to know what we're facing."

Prosser said the city needs "immediate attention and assistance" from the federal government, and will seek such aid….

The trainyard behind the Quaker Oats plant in downtown Cedar Rapids, Iowa, during the flood of 2008. Shot by Interiority, Wikimedia Commons, under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License