Riverside Dairy Queen Staying Open 'Until They Close Down the Road and Tell Us to Go Home Like they Did in 2008'

Riverside Dairy Queen owner Scott McWane is no stranger to natural disasters.

His drive-in ice cream joint got nailed by the Iowa City tornado in 2006. Then inundated by the 2008 flood despite mounds of sandbags (Video).

You may recognize the reporter who interviewed him in that video link: that's me, covering the 2008 flood for the Cedar Rapids Gazette, interviewing him almost on the same spot five years ago.

With that much flooding deja vu, it's understandable that McWane refers to the 2008 flood as "last year" several times in the video above, something that I've noticed with several people I've interviewed this time around. 

Now here is again, a little bit wiser, again prepared to face his fate, relying on sump pumps and a basement (empty of vital supplies) to battle the rising waters.

"You can't fight Mother Nature, you just have to go with the flow," McWane said. "Everything is upstairs now, so we should do a bit better this time."

McWane said that he will sandbag if the water breaks the edge and the city places a general call out for help with sandbagging area businesses. Until then, and perhaps even after, he plans to keep on selling ice cream.

"Until they close down the road and make us go home like they did in 2008," he said.