MacKenzie Elmer, and Kevin Hardy

Des Moines Register

Marilyn Hardee watched from her office window as the Shell Rock River created a moat around City Hall on Friday. The Shell Rock city clerk arrived to work early, leaving behind a home that was slowly filling with muddy water.

“It’s never been this bad,” said Hardee, who has lived for 30 years in the northeastern Iowa town of 1,330.

U.S. Geological Survey hydrologic technicians stooped on the southern bank of the river Friday morning, taking measurements by hand after water overtook the agency's water monitoring station. The river reached an all-time high of 21.5 feet, an entire foot above previous record levels set in 2008.

“We’re seeing (flood) stages that have never been logged before," said Clint Van Schepen with USGS. "We’ve been monitoring this site for 62 years.”

About 20 Shell Rock homes were evacuated, and another 50 residences were vacated in nearby Waverly.

Farther downstream on Friday, residents worked to quickly fill sandbags and take additional flood precautions as they waited for the water to arrive.

Cedar Falls closed about 20 blocks downtown to vehicle traffic Friday evening. On Saturday, the city will close the area to pedestrians and require businesses to close, said Cedar Falls Police Lt. Kelli Yates.

Floodwaters are not expected to reach downtown businesses, but the closures are being mandated as a precaution, she said.

To receive frequent updates and warnings about Iowa flooding on your smartphone, download The Des Moines Register app and enable push notifications.

The Cedar River is expected to crest more than 12 feet above flood stage Saturday afternoon and move on to Waterloo by Saturday night.

The National Weather Forecast increased its projected crest level for the Cedar River in Cedar Rapids to 25.3 feet, well above a major flood level, but not surpassing the 2008 record of 31.12 feet. The Cedar River there is expected to crest Monday evening.

"It hasn’t done much right now, but it's going to go up a lot," said Zach Utech, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service's Quad Cities office.

'We can save a lot in three days'

With the Cedar River rapidly rising, the mayor of Cedar Rapids promised residents Friday that the city would not be caught "off guard" like it was during flooding in 2008.

Mayor Ron Corbett said there was still time for residents to protect their homes and businesses.

"We still have three days," he said. "We can save a lot in three days."

Corbett said the community is better prepared than it was in 2008, when flooding dislocated more than 18,000 people and caused more than $2 billion in damage to the city.

"We were caught off guard a little bit last time," he said at a Friday morning news conference. "And this time we’re not."

Corbett said 2,800 properties are expected to flood in Cedar Rapids — 500 of those were bought out by the city after 2008's flood. That leaves about 2,300 parcels, including 389 commercial properties and 1,349 residences that could be flooded.

Portable dams, barriers and pumps were being deployed in Cedar Rapids. Street flooding was expected in several areas, including the downtown core. The city said 14,000 sandbags have been ordered for public use, and officials intend to close several low-lying roads.

MORE FLOOD COVERAGE:

"We're very concerned about the downtown," said Mike Goldberg, director of Linn County Emergency Management.

Corbett called on residents to be proactive and to ask the city and volunteers for help while there is still time to prepare.

"I'm sure the emotions are running high and swinging on an hourly basis," he said. "There may be a feeling of desperation, of throwing your hands up. We want to assure you that you’re not alone. The community's here to help you."

Volunteers poured into the NewBo Market and Czech Village areas to help businesses and residents.

Serena Gabrielson, co-owner of Ernie's Tavern in Czech Village, said preparations at the bar were nearing completion with help from students and a local carpenters union. If predictions held true, she expected to see waist-deep water inside her business. Like many others, Gabrielson applauded the community's response.

"Everybody's gone through it once. Now they know what can happen," she said.

Cedar Falls, Waterloo brace for weekend

Cedar Falls officials have been talking to residents in low-lying neighborhoods about the rising waters and their option to evacuate. The dike system protecting downtown Cedar Falls was expected to hold, but Public Safety Director Jeff Olson said it will be patrolled. The weather service said the Cedar River was expected to crest at 100.8 feet Saturday afternoon — just shy of the record of 102.1 feet in June 2008.

Waterloo has closed several storm sewer floodgates, activated lift stations and put up flood control walls at several spots downtown. The fire department on Friday lined up extra boats to have on hand for water rescues. Several bridges were closed because of high waters.

A 30-foot levee is expected to protect Waterloo and much of Cedar Falls, said Black Hawk County Emergency Management Agency Coordinator Lorie Glover. The river is expected to crest Saturday at 26.4 feet.

FLOODING RESOURCES:

"We didn’t over-top in 2008," Glover said. "We came close."

She said officials were urging residents to start preparing Friday, though no evacuations had been ordered.

"If you know your basement’s prone to flooding, get stuff to higher ground," she said. "Don’t wait for the basement to flood before you do something."

Upstream along the Cedar River about 50 homes were voluntarily evacuated from the southeastern side of Waverly on Friday.

Waverly police Capt. Don Eggleston said people were originally told to evacuate their homes by Friday afternoon, but everyone was out by Thursday night, when water levels rose more quickly than expected.

Waverly’s dam, which was reconstructed in 2011 according to the Iowa Water Coalition, spared the northwest and southwest portions of the city from flooding Thursday.

Waters reach 'lights on top of the garage'

Shell Rock Mayor Larry Young kept a close eye on the South Cherry Street bridge Friday as the river sent waves onto the road and completely engulfed the bridge’s arched underbelly.

The city debated whether to close the bridge throughout the day, but never did. It's the only crossing along the river for 20 miles.

“The big concern for me is people trying to get to the pharmacy in Waverly for their medication,” Young said.

The National Weather Service on Thursday night projected the river to crest at 18.1 feet, but measurements on Friday afternoon showed the crest had topped 21 feet.

To receive frequent updates and warnings about Iowa flooding on your smartphone, download The Des Moines Register app and enable push notifications.

Recent University of Northern Iowa graduate Blake Willson, 23, and an army of friends and family members spent Friday erecting a barricade of plywood, sandbags and plastic around his family home.

“It’s way higher than anyone predicted,” Williams said. “Water will unfortunately find its way through if it wants to.”

Downriver in Janesville, Florence Combs stood on the porch of her mobile home, distraught at seeing the flooded trailer park blocked off by police tape. Police evacuated about 18 people from the park and shut the power off. Most residents found refuge in the homes of friends.

Only seven people stayed at Waverly’s designated shelter inside the Grace Baptist Church.

In Greene, deputy city clerk Melinda Ritter said Friday that the home she is selling was surrounded by water — but so far, the water hadn't seeped inside. She said she spent a restless Thursday night at her new home at a higher elevation, away from the danger.

Clarksville Police Chief Barry Mackey said water over-topped the levee there Thursday night. The levee runs down the east side of the Shell Rock River, just west of the Butler County community of about 1,400 people. Several homes were surrounded by water, including his, Mackey said, speaking from a police officer's home that sits on higher ground.

City Clerk Larry Betts said about one-third of the town is flooded. Water levels vary from a few inches to several feet deep, he said.

"I cannot see the lights on top of the garage," he said.

The Cedar River, Shell Rock River and West Fork Cedar River converge about 12 miles south of Shell Rock and Waverly before rolling on to Cedar Falls and Waterloo.

Branstad activates National Guard for flood response

Gov. Terry Branstad said Friday that he had activated the Iowa National Guard to assist with response to the state’s most serious flooding in years.

Branstad last called up Guard personnel for such duty in 2011, during major flooding along the Missouri River. At a news conference in Johnston, the governor said he had issued an emergency disaster declaration for 13 counties in northeast Iowa.

"The state of Iowa has been assisting the impacted communities in their response to the flooding, and we are helping them prepare for anticipated flooding in the days ahead," Branstad said. "This includes some of the counties along the Cedar River that are downstream that have not been declared a disaster."

Branstad said the state has distributed 120,000 sandbags, four dump truck loads of sand and 22 water pumps, along with 400 flood cleanup kits.

Iowa National Guard Adjt. Gen. Tim Orr said that Iowans learned lessons from 2008’s catastrophic floods and that communities are more prepared for floods now.

"We are seeing … up and down the rivers a proactive approach in these communities," Orr said. "This flood is a great flood or a big flood, but it's not quite to the same standard that we saw in 2008."

Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds said both she and Branstad will visit Clarksville, Shell Rock and Cedar Rapids on Saturday and additional communities next week.

To receive frequent updates and warnings about Iowa flooding on your smartphone, download The Des Moines Register app and enable push notifications.

Branstad’s disaster proclamation makes available money for lower-income households to repair homes and vehicles, replace clothes, buy food and pay for temporary housing. Grant applications are available on the Iowa Department of Human Services website.

The proclamation included these counties: Allamakee, Benton, Black Hawk, Bremer, Buchanan, Butler, Cedar, Chickasaw, Delaware, Floyd, Franklin, Linn and Wright.

Register reporters Molly Longman, Holly Hines and Joel Aschbrenner and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

Water woes felt across Iowa

Floods caused several highway closures Friday, according to the Iowa Department of Transportation.

The Mason City Globe Gazette reported that Charles City officials were urging residents to stop using water because of a pump failure at the city wastewater plant. The failure makes it difficult for the plant to keep up with new wastewater. The city set up portable toilets around town, the newspaper reported.

Meanwhile, Ames experienced up to 5 inches of rain overnight, according to a city news release, leading to extensive street flooding and a rise in river levels.

Flooding forces road closures

The Iowa Department of Transportation reports the following highways were closed Friday: