Demolition of Flooded Homes on Iowa Island Begins

Contractors have started tearing down homes damaged in 2008 by flooding on San Souci Island in Waterloo, Iowa.

Twenty houses in the island were turned over to the city in a $4 million buyout program authorized by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. In all, the city acquired 46 flood-damaged homes.

Demolition of houses in the worst condition has been going on since last year, but a city contractor recently started tearing down those flooded by the Cedar River on San Souci. City planner Aric Schroeder told the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier that demolition on the island could continue until next spring.

Jim Hackett was among the homeowners displaced. He now lives across the river from the house he occupied for 40 years.

Hackett said it’s difficult to see his old neighborhood torn down and the pieces hauled off to a landfill. The neighborhood was close-knit and everyone knew each other, he said.

“It’s tough to look over,” he said. “With every house that’s torn down goes a memory.”

Hackett said Waterloo’s first motion picture was shown on the island and its first golf course was there too.

“The history behind that is all going to be gone,” he said.

Mary Jo Klatt’s house has already been torn down. She said she’d dreaded the demolition for years but the building looked so rundown of late that she wanted to see the property cleaned up.

“I didn’t watch my house go down, but when I drove in Sans Souci and it wasn’t there, it just took my breath away,” Klatt said.

She and Hackett both said they’d like to see the island returned to its former glory. It’s long been used for ATV riding and hiking, along with housing.

City and county boards continue to work on plans for Sans Souci but nothing is definite.

Information from: Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier

Topics Cyber Flood Homeowners Iowa