Several thousand residents of Cedar Rapids left their homes Sunday as floodwaters began to spill out of the rising Cedar River, and Iowa's second-largest city worked to apply the lessons officials learned after the record 2008 flood. The river crested Saturday night in Waterloo and Cedar Falls, which are about 55 miles (90 kilometers) upstream from Cedar Rapids, which is Iowa's second-largest city, with about 130,000 people. The Cedar Rapids school district said Sunday that it is canceling classes through Wednesday because of the flooding. On Sunday morning, more than 100 volunteers helped remove the seats from the restored Paramount Theater in Cedar Rapids and move them up to the second floor to protect them from floodwaters. The theater was heavily damaged in the 2008 flood because it is one block from the Cedar River, and it cost $35 million to restore.

Source: ABC News September 25, 2016 15:31 UTC