Here are some statistics about the flooding in Linn County, meant as a companion to this story, published today.

Data current as of Dec. 15, 2008, unless otherwise indicated

Flood Magnitude

31.12 feet — Crest (11.12 feet over previous record of 20 feet) covering more than 10 square miles (14 percent) of the city. More than 80,000 tons of debris have been collected and removed to landfills. There were, however, no flood-related deaths.

People

  • 18,623 estimated people in flood-impacted area
  • 120 families in flood areas receiving Section 8 housing assistance
  • 1,360 estimated job losses as a result of the flood
  • 45 registered day-care providers damaged, displacing 1,547 children
  • 1,800 school children displaced

Property

  • 7,198 affected parcels (5,390 residential)
  • $2.4 billion estimated cost in damage to public infrastructure and future flood management options
  • As many as 1,500 properties to be demolished — 71 were demolished before Jan. 1.
  • Preliminary estimate is of a residential tax loss of $81.7 million by the city

Services

  • City Hall, two jails, municipal court facilities, central fire station, central library facility and police headquarters were completely flooded and displaced
  • Cedar Rapids Community School District central offices were flooded and displaced
  • 45 registered day-care providers were damaged, displacing as many as 1,547 children
  • 8 cultural assets (museums, theaters, cultural centers) were displaced and/or destroyed
  • Ground transportation and municipal city transportation hub was completely displaced
  • 3 of 4 city collector wells and 46 vertical wells were disabled
  • More than 57,218 flood recovery-related volunteer hours donated
  • 486 property tax exempt facilities (government, schools, churches, Red Cross, etc.) were displaced or damaged
  • 136 other public service providers were impacted (utilities, railroads, etc.)

Needs

  • $87.2 million in estimated lost property tax valuation
  • 888 new replacement housing units ($36.9 million estimated funding gap)
  • 1,049 total rehabilitated units needed ($36.7 million estimated funding gap)
  • 1,001 citizens expressed interest in buy-out options ($133 million estimated funding gap)
  • More than 700 businesses with estimated flood-recovery need for as much as $1.5 billion
  • Flood mitigation/remedy funding gap $478.5 million
  • $5 million for required U.S. Army Corps of Engineers environmental study
  • $54 million for steam heat rehabilitation/rebuild
  • $120 million for waste-to-energy, co-generation and long-term sustainability initiatives

Linn County

  • Total flood-related damages for the county as a whole are estimated to be $5.7 billion.
  • As of Dec. 22, 2008, $655 million had been received from federal, state, local and insurance sources, leaving a gap of more than $5 billion.