Cedar Rapids Residents Cautioned to Limit their Toilet Flushes; Some Czech Village Business Members Preparing for the Worst

The Cedar River is expected to crest on Saturday in Cedar Rapids, and some business owners in the Czech Village are preparing for the worst, haunted by memories of the flood of 2008 almost five years ago.

Czech Village Merchants Preparing for Flooding (KCRG)

Nancy Schmucker, owner of Merle Norman Cosmetics, lost her entire stock in the flood of 2008. This time she vowed not to repeat that experience and will sandbag her store and do cosmetics business from her home.

The National Czech and Slovak Musem’s Kozek Building nearby was also cleared of items in the basement Friday.

Rob Merritt, Communications Director, said the secondary museum site currently houses a flood exhibit and offices. Museum leaders were worried about water backing up through sewers and not necessarily water in the streets. Volunteers and staffers moved storage items out of the basement and into a truck. Merritt said they’ll be stores away until the Cedar River starts dropping again. 

Meanwhile, while the rising waters challenge the shore of the Cedar River, the heavy rains are challenging the Cedar Rapids wastewater system, with the heads of the Cedar Rapids department cautioning residents to limit their flushes.

Flush wisely.That was the request on Friday morning of Steve Hershner, the city’s utilities director, as the flooding river and expected additional rain today is taxing the city’s wastewater system.During times of plentiful rain and a high river, water infiltrates into the city’s sanitary sewer system and sends additional fluid to the Water Pollution Control plant for treatment.

Sufficiently high is the flow into the plant that the city that the plant is now providing total treatment to the wastewater before it is sent into the Cedar River, Hershner reported at a Friday morning news conference.