So my fair town is currently under historic flooding conditions. I was not living in Iowa in 1993 during the last major flooding event, but apparently the river level is about 10.3 feet higher than the record set in 1929 (roughly 11.3 ft higher than 1993 according to the news coverage). It is absolutely nuts to drive through a downtown area one day to work crossing one of many bridges going over a river 10-15 feet below the bridge, and then two weeks later the entire downtown is shut down, no power, no gas, and those same bridges are now 5-8 feet UNDER water. Buildings have roughly 10 feet high water in them for distances covering miles! We now have one interstate bridge that is high enough to cross the river, which is my only route to work now. I am very thankful to say that I only have minor seepage in my finished basement as I live far away from the river, while thousands of others have lost their homes completely. My heart goes out to those in Cedar Rapids and surrounding areas that never thought to get flood insurance, because no one predicted this catastrophic event could occur at this level. Hopefully I didnt bore too many of you, but I saw it first hand today coming home from work (using the only route in town) and I am at a state of awe at the power of nature! The best part about this whole thing is that the city population is coming together to help one another, and so far there are zero deaths! 
