Some Johnson County residents on move after mandatory evacuation notices

IOWA CITY — Residents along Driftwood Lane SE, just south of Iowa City, were securing their homes on Wednesday afternoon.

They'd just been notified that a mandatory evacuation order had been issued effective immediately and power was being shut off.

'It came all of a sudden,' said Scott Bys, 59, who's lived in his low lying home yards from the Iowa River for about 14 years. 'The flows are changing hour-to-hour. We thought we'd have another day, another couple of days.'

Driftwood was one of 11 streets where residents received mandatory evacuations as Iowa River level and Coralville Lake projections continue to fluctuate upward.

Izaak Walton Road SE, Camino Del Rio SE, Ocean Boulevard SE, River Front Estates NE, 6979 and 6951 Tri County Bridge Road, Lola Lane SE, Sand Road South of 560th Street to Hwy 22, Winter Eagle Road SE, River Bend Road SE and Fountain Court SE were all issued evacuation notices on Wednesday, following a declaration from the Johnson County Board of Supervisors.

Residents and businesses on Taft Speedway, Rocky Shore Drive, Iowa Avenue lower point (Rail Bridge), Stevens Drive and South Gilbert Street all were advised they were on high alert for flooding.

Some homes on south Sand Road are already surrounded by water.

Bys and neighbor Curt Benskin, also 59, were loading a trailer with mattresses, a washer and drier and other household items on Wednesday.

'We'll be out of here for a week or two,' Benskin said.

It's become a near annual procedure.

The Benskins rebuilt their home after it was destroyed in the 2008 flood, and were evacuated in last summer.

Wife LaVonne Benskin said they are frustrated, blaming the regular flooding threats on how the Coralville Lake is managed for recreational use instead of flood control tool.

'I've seen them do it year after year after year,' LaVonne Benskin said. 'I'm upset. The last two times it flooded was right after they let it fill up for Memorial Day weekend.'

On the opposite bank of the river, on Winter Eagle, Amanda Yates was not taking any immediate steps after getting her notification.

'At this point, we are just going to wait and see what happens because at this point the river still is in its banks. If we need to leave, we will and if we don't we won't.'

Yates, 33, said she feels her family will have plenty of time to remove important belongings and evacuate safely if the need arises.'

About a mile upstream, construction crews were in process of building an eight-foot sale flood wall around two mobile homes and a few businesses off South Riverside Drive.

Some neighbors were mowing their lawns, and others were watching the flood wall get erected from decks.

Angie Galbreath, who lives along the river, said she has not received an evacuation order and said she is not planning to pack up.

'I feel confident with that wall,' Galbreath said. 'It's Mother Nature. She'll do what she wants, and there's not much you can do about it.'

Galbreath said she has totes if she needs to pack things if the situation becomes more dire.

Katie Van Acker, a supervisor of Lucky Pawz on Stevens Drive in Iowa City, said staff have had to deal with flooding in past years. They are watching the river gage estimates regularly and will take action if necessary.

'We are not doing anything immediately, but we do have a plan in place,' she said.

l Comments: (319) 339-3177; brian.morelli@sourcemedia.net

Johnson County mandatory evacuation areas