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March 28, 2024

Officials: About half of flood zone residents evacuated

Iowa flooding

Brandon Pollock / The Courier via AP

The tops of mailboxes barely break the surface of floodwaters from the Cedar River on Saturday, Sept. 24, 2016, in the North Cedar neighborhood of Cedar Falls, Iowa.

Updated Monday, Sept. 26, 2016 | 7:34 a.m.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — A city spokeswoman says about half of the homes and businesses in an area of Cedar Rapids expected to see flooding have been evacuated.

The city asked residents and property owners along the rain-swollen Cedar River to leave by 8 p.m. Sunday, two days before the river is expected to crest.

City spokeswoman Gail Loskill said Monday that police believe about half of the 3,400 residential and 550 commercial parcels in the zone have been evacuated. Loskill couldn't say how many people remain.

The National Weather Service says the river is forecast to crest Tuesday at 23 feet, which is about 7 feet into the category of major flooding but still below the 2008 record.

Cedar Rapids is Iowa's second-largest city, with around 130,000 residents.

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