December 12, 2009 – Cedar Rapids, Iowa (Cable Muse Network) -- On the ground and listening to the stories of Cedar Rapids victims Cable Muse correspondent Joyce Godwin Grubbs reports devastating losses from the floods and tornadoes of 2008 the wounds of are deep and open for many Cedar Rapids residents.  

Click To Enlarge All Images

The now infamous line, “We will not go quietly into the night” from the movie “Independence Day” characterizes the determination of the Cedar Rapids flood victims who met with Cable Muse Network following a public forum organized by Mayor-elect Ron Corbett. Self-appointed advocates of the remaining flood victims were comprised of both victims in FEMA trailers, and victims who had found housing. Some flood victims had returned to their homes that were rehabbed just enough to get them “back in the door”. There was concern that there has been a concerted effort by the city to “outlast the victims” and in some cases present them as “whiners” and “greedy”. In turn, frustration of the victims had brought out verbal missiles lobed at the city officials such as; “economic cleansing”, “homegrown carpetbaggers”, “white Katrina” and “Westbank politics” (a reference to the victims on the west side of the “construction line” declared by the city).

This tired and beleaguered group of survivors, no longer trusts that media and newly interested parties, who say they have the victims’ best interests at heart. Never the less, they forged on with their stories. The human stories involved hundreds of hours of research, learning the law as it pertains to their rights, and attempts to prove or debunk various conspiracy theories and get honest and relevant answers.

Mayor-elect Ron Corbett

Twelve hours after the public meeting with Cedar Rapids flood victims, Cable Muse Network (CMN) sat down with the Mayor-elect Ron Corbett, the organizer of that public forum, to ask his thoughts about the response of the victims. His words were passionate as he spoke of people who had lost their homes and in most cases, all that they had. He declared, “They were not being heard. They were talking but then being told what to do to fit in the process. I believe if you are elected to office, you signed on for the people and the problems. These people have concerns and problems that are real. We are talking about their homes. Their lives are in those homes. Of course, they are going to be emotional and hurt. They no longer believe anyone cares or will listen. Trust is now a big issue between the city and the victims”. In the hours since the meeting he had already drafted a plan to work with State Senator Rob Hogg to get the Iowa Legislature to approve legislation which will create stiff penalties for vandalism and crimes on flood victim properties. This is in response to recent fires allegedly attributed to meth labs and occupation illegally by drug addicts and pushers in abandoned buildings in the flood plain. He also will instruct the city to resume additional trash and refuse services to flood victim properties as they are still paying taxes for those services and trying to clean up their properties; it’s only a start.

The Mayor-elect who made flood recovery a priority issue in his campaign, called his first meeting with flood victims since his election so each victim would have time to recount his current concerns. Scheduled as a two-hour meeting, it went four hours without breaks. The mayor-elect left as the building lights were being shut off and no constituents remained. During the meeting, in a poignant moment after hearing many flood stories; he walked to the tripod tablet and wrote his name, address, personal email and cell phone number for all the attending public to have access too. He told the audience that he might not be able to solve everything, but he would be working toward it. If he only helped with eighty out of a hundred, they would know he had done his best; he had listened and he heard. He will again, in January after he is sworn in.

With limited resources many victim applications for help were handwritten

Cable Muse was aware of dozens of stories that needed to be told in-depth after hearing the testimonies. A 87 year old woman complying with regulations which presented copies of her receipts and was told they weren’t legible. She returned with the originals and was told she couldn’t use them as they weren’t legible either. Now she may pay-off her debt when she is “117 years old. Then there was the woman whose son brought his construction crew from Alabama only to be told he couldn’t help his mother and a police car sat in front of the house to insure they did not work. It remained until her son and his crew packed up and returned to Alabama. The site of a large, impassioned city worker who was harassed about the two flood damaged cars on his property telling his story and struggling to remain calm. He told how he had to stay on duty after the flood for days and later suffered a heart attack. Each story was not for sensationalism, but was a piece to the puzzle of why these disasters take so much recovery time and what are the “universal” problems in common with other like disasters.

In an email response to this article Mayor-elect Ron Corbett wrote, “As we head into a second winter without closure many flood victims are losing hope. We need to provide legal support for the flood victims as the buy-out process begins. I will (be) sending out to those that attended the meeting the list of issue that need to be addressed. The next meeting will be schedule for early January (2010)”.