The last week has been nothing short of amazing for the community where I live and for the newsroom where I work.
Last Thursday, downtown Cedar Rapids and some surrounding neighborhoods suffered the worst flooding in history. The Cedar River crested at an all-time high of 31.1 feet, several feet above projected levels.
The downtown area is pretty much gone. Several neighborhoods, including the historic Czech Village, sustained significant, if not catastrophic, damage.
To give you a sense of how high the water was here are two photos from downtown Cedar Rapids. The first is a normal day. The one on the right shows the river Thursday afternoon, a day before the crest.
You can see more photos from photographers Liz Martin, Courtney Sargent, Brian Ray, Jim Slosiarek, Cliff Jette and Jonathan D. Woods here.
My new boss, Steve Buttry, gives a breakdown of how The Gazette’s coverage unfolded and the obstacles the newsroom faced in getting news and information out with no power and transportation very difficult.
I’ll tell the story because I can’t take much credit. The outstanding performance you saw, read and heard this week at GazetteOnline and The Gazette was delivered by the staff I found here when I arrived Tuesday. I hope to have an impact here eventually, but a new editor pretty much has to play the hand he is dealt in terms of the staff’s ability to cover a story that is already unfolding. I was dealt several decks worth of aces.
The work done by this newsroom was simply remarkable. Everyone played a role, and everyone stepped up – and those word don’t come close to saying how great everyone was.
It is still a little early for me to put into words just how proud I am to have been a part of covering this historic event alongside the dedicated, professional journalists who reported and photographed this story.
I don’t yet know if the magnitude of the event or the aftermath has set in. The coming days, as I catch up on some sleep, should help.
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- 1st Looks at Flooded Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Homes [via Zemanta]
Awesome work. This is how it’s done.
My wife and I were in Wisconsin the entire time surfing Gazetteonline.com every day, several times a day. Excellent coverage. I even drove into Appleton at 5:30 am on Friday morning (June 13th, 2008) to check out the latest.
Thanks.