Watching rising Cedar River from 16th Avenue SW on June 10, 2008. (Cindy Hadish photo)
One year ago is when it all began. On June 10, my sons and I went to Czech Village in Cedar Rapids to see if we could offer any help in sandbagging efforts. We encountered a flurry of activity, even though no one knew exactly what was coming. Later, we offered our help to Kather Alter, a Gazette employee who was evacuating from the Time Check neighborhood.
Looking back, there was so much more I wish we had done. The historic Cedar River flood ended up affecting not only Czech Village, Time Check and other areas abutting the river, but places I never thought would be touched, including my mother’s home. The Gazette, in downtown Cedar Rapids, was also affected, even though we stayed above the floodwaters.
Here are some of the photos I captured during those days in June 2008.
Looking down Third Ave. SE toward Cedar River in downtown Cedar Rapids (Cindy Hadish photo)
Sandbagging at Fourth Avenue and Sixth Street SE (Cindy Hadish photo)
Near Boston Fish at Fifth Street SE (Cindy Hadish photo)
Hospital CEO Tim Charles inside flooded Mercy Medical Center (Cindy Hadish photo)
Dan Geiser, Joe Hladky and George Ford inside a darkened Gazette, cooled, somewhat, by fans (Cindy Hadish photo)
Stream of cars drive through the Wal-Mart parking lot to pick up bottled water (Cindy Hadish photo)
Sandbags in front of Gazette building in downtown Cedar Rapids (Cindy Hadish photo)
Gazette publisher Dave Storey probably regrets agreeing to be in this photo taken on the back dock of The Gazette. Employees had to use portable toilets for weeks because of water restrictions in Cedar Rapids. (Cindy Hadish photo)
To be fair, this is me in the same spot on the Gazette's back dock - no shower for days because of the city's water restrictions.
Homegrown 