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Iowa's Severe Storms and Flooding 2008

Click above for slideshow. During Spring and Summer 2008, severe weather across Iowa caused substantial damage to Iowa's historic resources. The Iowa Historic Preservation Alliance is working with the State Historical Society of Iowa, Main Street Iowa, 1000 Friends of Iowa, the Silos and Smokestacks National Heritage Area, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation to identify needs and assist historic property owners in all affected areas of the state. The slideshow pictures are from Cedar Rapids.

Please visit Preservation News from Across the State for a flood news roundup.

Visit the National Trust for Historic Preservation's flood recovery page.

IHPA Begins Architectural Salvage Operation in Cedar Rapids

Click above for slideshow. IHPA has embarked on a new venture to assist the flood ravaged community of Cedar Rapids in developing a sustainable architectural salvage and recycling operation. The operation was started with the guidance of Roger Gwinup of Iowa City, who for years has worked with Iowa communities to establish similar operations. Assistance was provided by the new AmeriCorps - Green Team members from Cedar Rapids, Cedar Falls, and Waterloo, as well as many private citizens of Cedar Rapids.

We salvaged four large non-flood damaged old houses of their architectural materials and are preparing to open a storefront to distribute these items with special emphasis on assisting flood victims first. Old multipanel doors, trim, and thousands of feet of original wood flooring are now being made ready for sale. The slideshow pictures were taken by Cortney Schiappa of Green AmeriCorps Cedar Falls during the last days of the salvage operation.

IHPA Helping to Designate Czech Village as Historic District

IHPA board member Rod Scott has been working with business owners, neighborhood groups, and preservationists in Cedar Rapids to designate the Czech Village as a historic district. Based on a preliminary determination of eligibility by the State Historic Preservation Office, portions of the Czech Village business district could be added to the already designated Bohemian Historic Commercial District, located directly across the river.

Preliminary survey work completed by Rod and the Cedar Rapids Historic Preservation Commission will help flesh out the documentation needed for the amendment to the original National Register of Historic Places nomination. If ultimately accepted by the National Park Service, the designation could help property owners obtain grants, rehabilitation tax credits, and possible exemptions from flood mitigation requirements. Additional information on individual buildings still needs to be compiled. The effort was discussed in a Cedar Rapids Gazette article on Gazette.com.

IHPA letter to SHPO requesting certification of eligibility: IHPA Letter ( 60 KB)

Letter from Tallgrass Historians discussing significance: Tallgrass Letter ( 1.7 MB)

SHPO Eligibility Review: SHPO Review Form ( 48 KB)

Czech Village—New Bohemia Cultural District Map CED Map ( 1.7 MB)

NTHP Accepting Donations on Behalf Flooded Main Street Iowa Cities

The National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP) is collecting funds on behalf of the five Main Street Iowa communities that were affected by the recent flooding: Burlington, Charles City, Elkader, Waterloo, and Waverly. Funds collected will be equally distributed between the five, equally-deserving communities and will help each Main Street program rebound from this unfortunate disaster.

Donations can be made through a website created within the National Trust's website.

Link to original IHPA news brief here.

Disaster Resources and Downloads

IHPA has collected a number of downloadable resources that will be of help during recovery from this and future natural disasters. They are available in the download box to the right and described below.

The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is an important tool for cities and homeowners trying to recover properties in floodplains, but it can be confusing to some. Historic properties are given special consideration in the program. In May 2008, FEMA released a floodplain management bulletin that defines "historic structure" and explains how those structures are given some relief from NFIP requirements. The bulletin also provides guidance on how to minimize flood damage to historic structures.

In response to flooding in Iowa, the National Trust for Historic Preservation prepared a resource sheet on economic incentives available for Iowa's historic commercial and residential properties. Their "Repair or Demolish?" pamphlet outlines a few of the questions owners of flood-damaged homes should ask themselves before making a decision regarding their property's ultimate fate. Many older homes damaged in the Gulf Coast after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, in Grand Forks after the 1997 Red River flood, and in Iowa after the Floods of 1993 were brought back from possible demolition; the same can happen today.

IHPA, in coordination with the National Trust, prepared a one-page tip sheet for owners of older and historic buildings impacted by flooding. The tip sheet contains lessons learned following the Gulf Coast flooding of 2005. Many historic building materials can be needlessly lost in the haste to clean up a flood-damaged property. Some of these elements—like elaborate wood trim—are costly to duplicate, and in many cases can be slowly dried out, refinished and reinstalled into the rehabilitated structure. The tip sheet is a summary of a free publication “Treatment of Flood-Damaged Older and Historic Buildings” available from National Trust Preservation Books online at www.preservationnation.org. Additional tip sheets for assessing damage to historic properties were prepared by IHPA in response to the 2008 disasters.