UI Student Dorm and Flood Influence of 2008

UI Student Dorm and Flood Influence of 2008 Student Name Course Date UI Student Dorm and Flood Influence of 2008 Section 1: Mission, Topic and Historical Context Mission Statement: The essay paper purports to document the history of the 2008 floods in the state of Iowa and its impact on the premises of Iowa University. It will focus on one of the residence halls at the institution named Mayflower that bared most of the effects because of its proximity to the Iowa River which borders the university. The paper will examine other similar catastrophes that have happened around the world in an attempt to pick lessons that would help prevent future unfortunate events. Topic and Historical Context: The University of Iowa is one of the top universities in the United States founded in 1847 and which hosts over 30,000 students from all over the world. The main campus is located along the Iowa River and has many buildings that serve as learning facilities and residential halls. One significant piece of architecture in the establishment is the Mayflower Hall that has a rich history not only for its design but also for the catastrophic event that hit the state of Iowa and specifically the university grounds. The now famous flood of 2008 hit the University of Iowa with much impact felt at the Mayflower hall because of its close proximity to the Iowa River. The state of Iowa has generally been susceptible to natural phenomena’s like floods making it a key study case for meteorological experts around the United States who seek to at least salvage the situation when the next disaster strikes with the establishment of disaster planning and recovery programs. The state of Iowa is in between the Mississippi river and the Missouri and Big Sioux rivers which put it at the center of floods during the periods of increased rainfall. Eastern Iowa specifically has several natural lakes and rivers such as the Iowa River and hence is the only state in the US bordered by water bodies (Budikova, Coleman, Strope & Austin, 2010). The unprecedented floods that hit the town in 2008 came as a shock to many who had come to believe that the town would never flood. Christopher Mag even once had a headline in the local paper “Eastern Iowa, the city that would never flood” (Maag, 2008). Hence, it’s no wonder the city went 12 feet under when the floods hit as people were ill prepared. The University of Iowa is one case example of an institution that has felt the wrath of the surging weather patterns and especially during times of increased rainfall. Built on the banks of River Iowa and Cedar River, the university has suffered from destructions caused from natural weather events with the most notable being the June 2008 flood when too much downpour caused the river to break its banks and wreak havoc on some of the university establishments including the Mayflower residence Hall. The dormitory is the furthest in proximity comparison to the other residence halls and the main campus but close enough to the Iowa River (Nizza, 2008). It hosts over 1,000 students and is often the first choice for many of the campus students because of its many amenities. The hall has its own kitchen for all students who wish to prepare their own meals, own fitness center, computer lab and a convenience store. It also offers nice scenery with a combination of the city park on one side and the Iowa River on the other. Most of the rooms suites provide for two people occupancy but there are also some that allow for single occupancy and inbuilt with all the amenities. However, what makes Mayflower hall the focus of the study is its closeness to the river which has made it susceptible to severe weather patterns. The 2008 flooding gave rise to the phrase “Iowa Katrina” because of its impact. A state meteorologist shared “The wet spring of 2008 was traceable to relatively warm and wet air over the winter. Rule of thumb is, if a storm begins at the Texas Panhandle, it will come to Iowa” (Fan & Davlasheridze, 2015). The statement shows that Iowa is situated at the edge and where weather conditions from other regions around the country converge and take full effect. It’s also noted that the heavy snow cover that was witnessed during that winter period persisted until the start of the spring rains and hence contributed to an increase in the flood water. The extensive agricultural field tilling is also perceived to have contributed to the severe impacts of the floods. It’s noted “Almost 40% of agricultural fields in Iowa are tilled, which allows water to flow more quickly from fields into water ways, possibly causing water levels to rise faster” (Tate, Strong, Kraus & Xiong, 2015). Iowa’s fertile landscape which allows for farming up to the creeks and rivers also contributed to the severe impact of the floods as there were inadequate buffer strips to prevent the rapid flow of flood water. Vanessa Milla reported in The Gazette “What started as a cold, record-breaking snow-white winter turned into the most devastating natural disaster the University of Iowa has ever faced” (Miller, 2008). The Mayflower hall at the university is flanked by the Iowa River and the Coralville Lake which serves as the reservoir with a maximum capacity of 10,000 cubic feet. However, during that eventful period, the heavy downpour caused the reservoir to surpass its maximum discharge capacity to reach over 12,000 cubic feet which resulted in spillage into Dubuque Street and all the way to the Mayflower hall, the largest residence hall in Iowa University. Some small catchment areas located in the north-central areas, as well as the eastern part of Iowa during that period, contributed to the increased runoff and rain water spillage. The high-water level flowed in the big rivers of Iowa and Cedar and the accumulation resulted in the historic flooding that happened in the Cedar River and the Iowa River basin. The effects on the university premises were catastrophic after the unprecedented burst of the banks of the two rivers. Reports indicated “A total of 23 buildings have been locked down. Of those, 16 buildings including the Mayflower residence have been directly impacted by either water inside the building or in the basement. Floodwaters have reached the stage level of the auditorium and the lower level of the Mayflower Residence hall” (Morrison, 2008). The floods resulted in the evacuation of the students to other dormitories until the water levels receded. Other facilities such as the Hancher Auditorium that hosted the university’s museum of art complex had the art collections moved to higher grounds to prevent further destructions. It was also reported that the Adler journalism building was four feet in the water and necessitated the evacuation by the staff members of their equipment’s and furniture. Overall activities around the state of Iowa came to a standstill as all members of the society joined hands to help avert further destructions and salvage what they could. Learning at the university was also disrupted significantly considering the damages to the dormitories and other facilities. JO reported in his article “The worst flooding Cedar Rapids has ever seen. Nothing like this has been seen in Eastern Iowa in recorded history” (Jo, 2014). The severity of the 2008 floods rendered useless the lessons learnt from the Great flood of 1993. Many people were evacuated from their homes and a number of roads in eastern Iowa closed. Brook notes “The closure of the bridges in Waterloo, Cedar Rapids, and Iowa city disrupted normal traffic patterns and led to extensive detours. Rail traffic was also seriously compromised with reported disruptions of Iowa, Chicago, and Eastern Railroad. A number of trains had their passengers put into buses” (Brook, 2010). The increased precipitations and flood waters led to a shortage of clean drinking water because of the contamination with the open and broken sewer waters. There were also increased power outages and failures as most parts of the city were submerged in water. These power outages also contributed to the reduction of the capacity produced in the local water treatment plant forcing the local authorities to limit its usage to only for drinking purposes. Section 2: Public History Scholarship Natural calamities such as floods, hurricanes, and drought among others occur when least expected. With global warming and the deteriorating climatic conditions around the world, weather forecasting has become almost impossible and all that is left is to plan accordingly. Picking lessons from historical unfortunate events can also assist to help prevent and better deal with future and similar events. Over the years, the US has been unlucky to suffer from various catastrophic events that have left devastations in their wake. Hurricane Katrina and which is regarded as the costliest hurricane in history hit the coast of Florida in 2005 causing significant damage to the environment and infrastructure. The storm surge resulted in a breach of the New Orleans levees and floodwalls which then led to the catastrophic flooding of nearly the entire city (Scott, 2010). The aftermath of the breach and flooding led to the displacement of many people from their homes across New Orleans, Mississippi and Alabama. The heavy rainfall that persisted for hours across New Orleans overwhelmed the city’s drainage canals and it’s reported “By early morning, low lying places like St. Bernard Parish were under so much water that people had to scramble to attics and rooftops for safety” (Scott, 2010). It’s estimated that over 2,000 people lost their lives during the hurricane and scattered many of the evacuees far and wide. It also exacerbated the poverty conditions of the people of New Orleans making them even more vulnerable. Nonetheless, the heroism of some of the citizens helped in the rescue of so many people. It’s recorded that the Coast guards in New Orleans helped to rescue about 34,000 people. Ordinary citizens also chipped in, commandeered boats and offered relief food and shelter to the affected. The New Orleans Mayor was instrumental in the whole evacuation process and declared the use of the Superdome because of its high ground for sheltering the displaced and those who couldn’t manage to get out of town. Wendy notes “By nightfall, over 80% of the city’s population had evacuated. Some 10,000 had sought shelter at the Superdome, while tens of thousands of others chose to wait at home” (Scott, 2010). Hurricane Katrina is another event that will forever be engraved in the minds of not only the affected but many others who live in fear of encountering a similar scenario. As unfortunate as it was, it served as a wakeup call to the federal government to put in place evacuation plans that would be reviewed regularly. Health and humanitarian centers were hence set up to help in disaster preparedness. The Georgia Tech, for example, offers “professional edu...