Have you seen the terrible flooding in Cedar Rapids? This is a picture of the main street through downtown. The "Chophouse" sign is a restaurant that Chris frequently visited when he was going back for his last semester at Iowa. Chris' boss has been keeping him up to speed with what is occurring at the Quaker plant (which is located on the banks of the Cedar River). As of 12:00 PM yesterday there was three feet of water on the first floor, so I'm sure there is much more now. They have been told that they won't be let back into the plant for at least another week. And due to the extensive flooding, much of the equipment will need to be replaced (like the conveyor belts that take the oats from the holding bins into the plant for production). Much of this equipment is custom made, so it will be 6+ weeks to get it installed before they can start producing again. Chris has been put in charge of locating oats needed for the Danville plant to keep producing products like granola bars, since they get the oat by-products from Cedar Rapids. So I would suggest buying your oatmeal in bulk this weekend. The prices are bound to rise!
We didn't live in the flood plains when we were there (nor do we know anyone who does), but this is having a devastating effect on the entire city (no power, very limited water supply, etc.). I'm glad that we aren't there right now!
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