By Jake Slobe
The University of Iowa celebrated a milestone Wednesday, marking eight years after the flood that devastated the campus and Iowa City in June 2008.
University faculty, staff, students, and the greater community gathered to recognize flood-recovery efforts that have taken place in the last eight years. The event highlighted numerous grand openings set to happen this fall, particularly for the new Voxman Music building, Visual Arts Building, and Hancher.
“I’m thrilled to be here to celebrate and commemorate our long road to recovery,” Martha Kirby, the UI Staff Council president in 2008, said at the event.
Kirby said she thinks the UI is more than a work place, it’s a community, and that was never more evident than during the flood and the efforts to rebuild that came after it.
“Challenging times also provide community members to shine, to lead, and to innovate,” she said. “We had so many members of our community step up to the plate during this time.”
At the event, there were photo panels displaying pictures of damage from the flood in addition to photos of the construction of flood-recovery projects. There was also a video presentation that played inside the Old Capitol documenting the university’s journey through reshaping the campus.
UI student Tyler Ralston was one of many in Iowa City who was forced to relocate because of the flood.
“I remember having to move all of our stuff up to the second floor,” Ralston said. “I remember us packing up as much stuff as we could. I remember walking through ankle deep water as we left the house before we had to leave to go stay at my grandpa’s house. It was crazy. It all happened so quickly.”
Now, Ralston is a Hawkeye, and the event gave him a chance to reflect on the devastation the damage did to the UI community.
“Looking back, I don’t think I really understood the severity of what was happening at the time,” he said. “I don’t know what 10-year-old kid would.”
Regenia Bailey, who was the Iowa City mayor at the time of the flood, also spoke to the crowd about the reaction from the local community.
“The flood recovery and response was a total community effort from kids to adults,” she said. “We saw generosity and kindness from people outside our community who came in and helped us, often doing the messiest jobs like filling sandbags, hauling debris, and cleaning out buildings.”
Bailey said she thinks a strong relationship between the city and the university continues today.
“The city of Iowa City and the University of Iowa have always had a strong working relationship,” she said. “That relationship strengthened as we worked together in first fighting the flood and then recovering.”
Jim Fausett, the Coralville mayor at the time, said it seemed like not that long ago.
“As the water crested, over 400 homes and 200 businesses in Coralville were affected,” Fausett said, noting he remembered filling and laying sandbags in hopes of preventing the flood from devastating the community.
Since then, Coralville has relocated its two city departments into a new combined facility, secured $63 million in federal and state grants to help build permanent floodwalls, and worked closely with homeowners to identify locations outside the risk of future flooding.
“As we celebrate today, we recognize these gains come to us in the wake of loss,” Bailey said. “Eight years ago today, over 250 families were forced to leave their homes, many with just hours’ notice. Our community became stronger as a result of our work together in 2008.”
