IOWA – Idiots Out Wandering Around
Sure, we all joke about it, but unfortunately, I have found the Iowans that are the Idiots Out Wandering Around and it is us! Yes, it is my community, my neighbors, my friends. All of us that live in the Time Check, Czech Village and Taylor neighborhoods, we are the ones they are talking about. I am sure it is only a freak of nature that Rompot somehow slipped onto the other side of the river.
I don’t know where these people come from with their crazy ideas but I can guarantee you there are not from the strong stock of Iowans that are the ancestors to our family. Our first family member was buried in Iowa in 1858. I think they are turning over in the graves now hearing the ignorance spewing out from City Hall.
I bet some of you think I am kidding. The following is what the leaders of Cedar Rapids have to say about me, my family, friends and neighbors. I get madder each time I read it and so do my family, friends and neighbors.
By the way, our family has an Electrical/Computer Science Engineer with a Masters, a Teacher, a soon to be RN, a soon to be Chemical Engineer and another soon to be Electrical Engineer. We also have a son who has attended Harvard when he could afford it J and his significant other is also a school teacher. I almost forgot the Software Engineer. Yes indeed we are as ignorant as they come because we choose to live in an old house built in 1910 or there abouts.
The following is from the City of Cedar Rapids Preferred Plan for the City. This is the information they are taking to DC and the State House.
Social Vulnerability Observations
By simply observing the demographic date, the prevalence of socially vulnerable populations within the Cedar Rapids flood-impacted area can be seen.
There is a higher percentage of minorities within the flood-impacted area than within the City as a whole. 10% compared to 8%,
Minority groups are likely to occupy more vulnerable positions in the social order, more likely to be located in hazardous locations, and less likely to have connections to outside centers of power and influence.
There is a high percentage of elderly residents both within the City and the flood impacted area – 13%.
The elderly are likely to have greater difficulty in evacuating from homes and may lack the ability, energy and resources to bounce back after the event.
The frail elderly may be in nursing homes or hospitals, which places the burden for their safety in a flood emergency on others.
There is a higher percentage of disabled residents within the flood-impacted area than within the City as a whole – 19% compared to 15%.
Like the elderly, the disabled are likely to have greater difficulty in evacuating during a flood emergency.
The percentage of female-headed households is doubled within the flood impacted area. 20% within the flood impacted area and only 10% within the entire City.
Females who head households are more likely to have fewer resources and bear special burdens for child care that limit options for employment.
The average median household income is much lower (over $10,000) within the flood impacted area with a higher percentage of resident using public assistance 5% to 3%. In the flood impacted area, 12% of citizens are in poverty compared to 7% in the entire City.
Poorer household are more likely to occupy more risky location and to be in housing that is older and in poorer condition.
Poorer households may lack resources such as cars to evacuate in a flood emergency and have less ability to absorb losses from a flood, less access to insurance, fewer resources to provide a cushion for a long recovery period, and less access to social networks that can lobby on their behalf for assistance.
Lower income jobs appear to be at greater risk of being lost after a flood event.
Low income is high correlated with low education and the less educated tend to be less well informed about developing hazards.
There are a greater percentage of renters within the flood-impacted area than within the City as a whole – 41% compared to 31%.
Renters run a greater risk of displacement in the aftermath of a flood event, as rents of existing intact housing often increase and make it difficult for former residents to remain.
These socially vulnerable residents are less equipped to handle the mental, physical and financial ramifications of a natural disaster and would be unable to sustain the impacts of another significant flood. Although many of these socially vulnerable residents lived in houses that are value far below the City’s median household value, the value of the lives that will be protected should account for much more than simply the value of the property when determining the feasibility of a future flood protection system.
EFFECTS WITHOUT THE PREFERRED FLOOD MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
Without implementation strategy that protects both sides of the Cedar River, resident on the west side will remain at risk of the following:
Socially vulnerable resident unable to move out of the flood zone due to financial restraints will unequally bear the negative impacts of another flood.
Quality of schools will be negatively impacted: Without the preferred flood management system, the school district will be at risk of not being able to provide the needed counseling and family assistance services to an already vulnerable population experiencing yet a subsequent flood. The increased poverty level of students, lowered test scores and need for services will make it difficult if not impossible for these schools to weather another flood, as well as for the students to come back from another wave of tragedy. A moral sense of justice dictates that children on the west side of the river deserve the change to lead healthy flood-free lives and go to school and learn, just as children on the east side will.
Inability to ensure high-quality medical services: Without the preferred flood management strategy, the City would be at risk of not being able to ensure emergency medical services to resident on the west side of the river. The inability for a city to offer emergency health care services is a quality of life issue that no city can afford to lose. Placing half of the community at risk having limited or no access to medical facilities is environmentally unjust. Additionally, both hospitals remain at risk for future flooding without the preferred flood management strategy. Since the flood, the city has partnered with both medical facilities to create a vision for a new medical district. This medical district will serve as a healthcare destination for the region, and as such, the City must be able to ensure their protection into the future.
Up to $100 million in trauma cost associated with another flood: If the City is unable to secure funding for the preferred flood management strategy, these effects will be felt throughout the community once again. As outlined in the above section, many of the residents that were directly affected by the flood are lower-income and cannot afford the costs of mental health services. Placing this group of socially vulnerable residents at the risk of experiencing future flood events does not work to uphold the principles of environmental justice.
