Yikes - flooding in Iowa

It's getting downright serious there. From the New York Times:

In Eastern Iowa, the City That �Would Never Flood� Goes 12 Feet Under
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa � They said this city would never flood. They talked about 1993, and 1966 and 1851, years when the Cedar River swelled and hissed but mostly stayed within its banks. They thought they were safe. They were wrong.

Cedar Rapids is experiencing the worst flooding in the city�s history. And the water is still rising. By Thursday afternoon, the Cedar River was about 29 feet deep, or 17 feet above flood stage, according to the National Weather Service. The water was expected to rise another three feet by Friday morning, and reach a record crest, 12 feet higher than the previous record, set in 1851.

�Usually if you break a record, you only do it by an inch or two,� said Jeff Zogg, a hydrologist for the Weather Service in Davenport, Iowa. �But breaking it by six feet? That�s pretty amazing.�

And it is not going to get any better anytime soon:

The pain will not end anytime soon. With heavy thunderstorms rolling in Thursday evening, and more rain predicted for the weekend, flood waters were expected to remain high for at least the next seven or eight days, said Dave Koch, spokesman for the Cedar Rapids Fire Department.

�We�ve got serious problems,� said Justin Shields, a Cedar Rapids City Council member. �And we�ve got a long way to go yet.�

Most of downtown Cedar Rapids was underwater. That includes City Hall, the county courthouse and jail, all of which, in acts of civic hubris, were built on an island in the middle of the river.

�Well, the island is part of the river now,� said Mike Goldberg, the administrative services director for Linn County.

And one sad example of someone unclear on the concept:

Demenick Ankum drove to his house on 19th Avenue to save anything he could. By the time he finished packing, his car was underwater. He had to pay a neighbor, Louie Brundidge, $10 to rescue him from the house in Mr. Brundidge�s red aluminum boat.

All that Mr. Ankum could carry with him was one blue plastic tub of clothes and a few framed photos of his children. Everything else was gone.

�I never even thought about flood insurance,� said Mr. Ankum, 33. �They said this place would never flood in 500 years.�

A 500 year flood does not mean that it will not flood for 500 years, it just means that you will only experience a flood like this every 500 years or so. It may flood again next year and not flood for 1,000 years. Given the climate change (cooling caused by diminished solar activity), this may become the norm for an indefinite time. We will see next year...