Lessons Learned
By Flood Repair of
The Initial Event
The Iowa flood of 2008 was a hydrolog-ical event involving most of the rivers in
eastern Iowa June 8-July 1, 2008. Flooding
continued on the Upper Mississippi River
in the southeastern portion of the state for
several more days. The phrase “Iowa’s
Katrina” was often heard.
The Cedar River crested at past 31 feet
( 9. 4 m) around 1: 30 p.m. on Friday, June
13. About 1,300 blocks, to include most
of downtown, were inundated and 3,900
homes were affected. Mays Island, which
has Cedar Rapids City Hall, the Linn
County Courthouse, the county jail, as
well as the United States Courthouse were
flooded. Buildings that did not suffer any
first floor damage had flooded basements.
The city’s domestic water distribution was
compromised, as all but one of the city’s
wells was flooded, and water usage restrictions were imposed.
Tremendous disruption to the city’s
utilities occurred. Electricity was cut off to
the flooded parts of the city by the power
company, as was natural gas. Telephone
and Internet service were also disrupted.
Electrical Equipment
By PAT BEISERT
When commercial, indus- trial, and utility facilities are faced with catastrophic events such as those experienced in the Midwestern region of the
United States in June 2008 due to massive
flooding not seen in hundreds of years,
a very specific and detailed sequence of
events must occur to return the facility to
productive operation both safely and efficiently. To illustrate the process, this article
will provide guidance and suggestions for
a course of action, based on a catastrophic
event in June 2008 at an industrial facility
in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
First and foremost, it is especially
critical to analyze and repair the electri-
cal power system in a safe and logical
sequence. Electricity, by its very nature, is
extremely toxic and should only be worked
on by qualified electricity personnel. The
decisions you make during the recovery
process, especially when dealing with
damaged equipment, can have far-reach-
ing and potentially fatal consequences if
not performed properly with the correct
set of precautions.
Securing the Facility
to Limit Damage
Prior to the flood waters breaching the
grounds of the facility, many hours of hard
work and planning were initiated to prevent or limit flood damage to the plant and
equipment. Knowing that flooding was
imminent, facility personnel worked to
create temporary berms, dikes, and levees
around the plant.
What wasn’t known at the time was that
the 25-foot wall that had been constructed
was no match for the near 32-foot flood
waters, the likes of which had never been
seen or imagined.
A few items that were successful:
u Removing critical medium-voltage motors
from their base and raising them on pallets to
get above flood waters
u De-energizing power to prevent electrical
short circuit and arcing damage
u Securing of tanks and other large devices that
may float away
u Sand-bagging the fronts of electrical
equipment rooms to limit the entry of water
and debris
Developing a Safety Plan
When performing flood recovery of
electrical equipment, safety and health
