Last week on Thursday, Charletta and I began hearing from her family about the devastation in Cedar Rapids and Iowa City as the Iowa River and the Cedar River crested. This weekend Charletta and I visited Iowa and I saw a few scenes from the aftermath of the flooding. I’ve never seen a flood large enough to warrant sand bags before, so even though the waters are far below their crest, it was quite striking for me.

Charletta’s brother Stewart told us about his experience sandbagging late one evening in Iowa city as the rains poured down and the river roared by. Today what remains are mounds and mounds of sandbags in what otherwise seems an ordinary urban settings:

Iowa River at University of Iowa	Sandbags outside gas station
pond in front of Hills Bank	Hills Bank sandbags
Hills Bank	Aldis
Closed Street