Cedar River Cresting

Vinton

Benton County has been blessed by the waters of the Cedar and Iowa Rivers and a number of creeks.  But the Cedar especially has proven a flooding threat as well, especially in the twenty-first century.  At Vinton the river’s flood stage is 15 feet, yet in 2008 the Cedar River crested in that city at 24.7 feet.  2008 was not the only recent year when the Cedar River exceeded flood stage.

            From September 21-23 in 2016 heavy rainfall in the Cedar, Iowa, Wapsipinicon, and Maquoketa river basins and in southwestern Wisconsin caused substantial flooding.  The National Weather Service warned residents of Benton County—residents of Vinton among them—that they were expecting the Cedar River to crest at Vinton at 23.1 feet on Sunday, September 25.  But they also advised residents to monitor forecasts as heavy rain could change the height and timing of the prediction. 

Sources:  on-line: National Weather Service, “September 2016 Major Flooding Recap”; “Potential Flooding Issues and Preparations,” Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 23, 2016.