Oficials say the University of Iowa’s flood preparations are “effective” and “no water” has seeped into any of the buildings on campus. University president Sally Mason briefed members of the Board of Regents Wednesday afternoon.
“While we are experiencing flood conditions in Iowa City, we’re very, very grateful and I am very appreciative of all of the people — all of our staff, all of the contractors — who participated in these flood preparation efforts,” Mason said. “It was truly monumental to see what can be done in three days to protect the campus should we ever experience something of the magnitude of the flood in 2008 again.”
A “great wall” has been built along both sides of the U-of-I campus, according to Mason, and it’s holding back “significant water” that would otherwise flood into the university’s Memorial Union. “If you were to look across the river at the buildings here that were significantly impacted by the flood, you would notice that they are not in danger of being impacted, at least at this point, from these floodwaters,” Mason said.
Board of Regents president Bruce Rastetter says there’s been a lot of progress on campus since the massive flooding of 2008, but he says “work needs to continue” to ensure the right measures are in place to meet Federal Emergency Management Agency guidelines for financing key projects at the university.
University officials gave Board of Regents members a 20-minute bus tour of the flood preparations Wednesday afternoon.