How fast does water go down after a flood crest?

Question

I live in Cedar Rapids, IA, where there is major flooding going on. The Cedar River is set to crest tomorrow morning at 32 feet. Currently (9:00 pm, central standard time), the river is at 30 feet. The flood stage is 12 feet. I'm curious how quickly the water will recede? Obviously, because this is major flooding, I know it will take a while. But I am curious at what rate flood waters like this will recede. The local news isn't saying. The only info I have it what I listed here.

Answer 1

The ground is saturated, so there is nowhere for the water to go. It will take several days. We are going to get hit next week here in Missouri. Good luck to you, and then good luck to us.

Answer 2

I guess we can be "happy" [very saracastic] that the water is receding, now we can see how beautiful our beloved city is [I live in Marion].... hope that you can rebuild and stuff!

Answer 3

It would be very difficult to answer this.

If the rain stopped and the sun came out today, the water in the river would have to get back to normal. It takes time for the ground to soak up the water and have it run back into the river, but it can't do that until the river level gets below flood stage. Also, your towns drainage system is a factor, those pipes are probably blocked, so they will need to be unblocked.

It took my town two days before the little flood we had receded, and we only had like 6 inches of water in the roads.

My guess, you will be facing a month of water. It might recede to a point, but you will have traps of water all over the place that will take time to drain.

Answer 4

i think it takes awhile so you're probably going to want to stay in that tree a little longer.

Answer 5

Sorry but I have no clue! Sorry I can't help ya!

Answer 6

it's almost impossible to answer that question.  it depends on water flow and potential increased rainfall the amount of clouds overhead.   although a general rule  is  it takes about twice as long for the water to go  as it did to come

Answer 7

I am also from Cedar Rapids, and with the way the flooding is out there, I wouldnt expcet it to go down any faster then in did rising. They said that the Train Tracks the collapsed in the River is making water rise up stream. And even after the water does recede, it will be weeks if not longer to moved all the sludge and muck on the roads. It is an unfortunate event going on here, one that shouldn't happen again in our life time!