Cedar Rapids recovering from flooding: the Institute for Building Technology and Safety helps with damage assessment and building inspection.

Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is recovering "as well or better than could be expected" from massive flooding in early June, which completely submerged the downtown area and damaged more than 7,000 buildings.

City Manager Jim Prosser said the recovery process has benefited from broad-based community support, a responsive federal government and extra help from external resources.

A cross-cutting response and recovery team, including representatives of government, business, schools, neighborhood associations, downtown council, the United Way, housing organizations and representatives of organized labor met daily during the height of the emergency to handle short-term response tasks and is now meeting weekly to oversee the rebuilding process.

"The biggest challenge we face right now is getting money into the pipeline to begin the rebuilding process," Prosser said.

Because Congress adjourned without passing a disaster recovery package and the state legislature has not scheduled a special session, a lack of state and federal funds to support local efforts may delay launch of the rebuilding process.

The June flooding in Cedar Rapids exceeded the 500-year level by six feet. "We've never had flooding like this," Prosser said. "The city is adequately protected for a 100-year flood--and this one exceeded that level by nine feet."

The city estimates $1.3 billion in direct loss and mitigation expenses.

Christine Butterworth, the city's director of community development, said the flood exceeded everyone's expectations.

"The water just kept going higher and higher," Butterworth said. "We had a solid emergency response plan and knew what we needed to do, but getting resources to implement the plan was a huge challenge."

Butterfield said she contacted emergency personnel in cities that had experienced flooding recently as the waters were rising in Cedar Rapids to get first-hand advice on lessons learned and unexpected challenges.

One unique aspect of Cedar Rapids that added to the challenge is that city hall and the county courthouse are located on an island on the Cedar River in the center of the downtown area. With the rising flood waters, government offices were evacuated shortly before the flood waters spilled into downtown and are still operating out of temporary headquarters.

Both Prosser and Butterworth said the magnitude of the flood led to an urgent need for additional resources to confront short-term recovery needs.

For example, the Institute for Building Technology and Safety (IBTS), a Virginia-based not-for-profit organization founded by five state and local associations, including NLC, deployed certified commercial inspectors within 24 hours of receiving a request from the city to do damage assessment in the downtown area before electricity could be restored.

The response team grew to include architects, engineers and building inspectors who worked closely with city staff to assess the most severely damaged buildings and reach consensus on structures that were beyond repair. More than 20 certified inspectors and architects provided by IBTS from seven different states were working in Cedar Rapids in June and most of July. IBTS currently has 14 staff working with the city to oversee the issuance of building permits, provide supplemental inspection services, and supplemental building code plan review services. Staff is expected to remain there for an additional six months.

"Time is everything in disaster recovery," Prosser said. "Opportunities to get needed resources to bear quickly make a big difference in the recovery process both to get the work done and to show citizens that the recovery is underway. IBTS's role in Cedar Rapids recovery has been and continues to be highly valuable."

Prosser said identifying supplemental recovery resources--beyond traditional mutual aid agreements--should be incorporated into every government's emergency response plan. In addition to inspection services such as those provided by IBTS, Prosser said supplemental communication resources should be identified in advance as well.

Despite the massive devastation, local leaders in Cedar Rapids are optimistic about the city's comeback.

"Our ability to recovery quickly is significant for the economy of this region because of the concentration of major employers within the city limits," Prosser said. "We accelerated the planning process drawing on work that was underway well before the flood and will be ready to go by October on major components of that plan."