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River to crest at record 103 feet
Cedar may top levee
By Janelle Penny
6/10/2008 5:16:51 PM
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The Cedar River may breach its levee if volunteers cannot contain the floodwaters, according to the National Weather Service.
The water could quickly flood nearby homes and businesses if it spills over the levee, which protects portions of Cedar Falls and Waterloo. A record 103-foot crest is expected overnight tonight in Cedar Falls.
Volunteers are urged to report to the UNI Dome north parking lot. They will be bused to the areas with the most urgent need.
“We’ll need volunteers all night,” said Susan Staudt, the city’s public information officer.
The volunteers are the only people allowed to remain in the area. Mayor Jon Crews issued a mandatory evacuation Tuesday afternoon for everyone in the following area:
The evacuation order applies to residents in the following boundary:
- On Franklin Street from Sixth Street to the north;
- On Sixth Street to the east toward Main Street;
- on Main Street from Ninth Street to the north;
- All downtown areas from these streets toward the river.
Residents will be arrested if they defy the evacuation order and unauthorized vehicles will be removed, further taxing the city’s already-strapped resources.
“[If you don’t leave] you’ll be stuck in a flooded area, and our resources are tapped out the way it is, so people have got to leave,” Staudt said. “We’re putting all our efforts toward sandbagging the levee, so we can’t be arresting people for failing to leave the area.”
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