How design helped Cedar Rapids, Iowa, recover from a catastrophic flood, and lessons the process may have for Houston Gina Marie Ford understands the challenges of flooding and recovery in major American cities. The design and planning firm where she?s a landscape architect and principal, Sasaki, actually created a plan for renovating the riverfront of the city of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, after a catastrophic 2008 flood of the Mississippi and Cedar rivers inundated the city?s waterfront and caused more than $6 billion in damages. Considered a ?2000-year-event,? the water crested at 31 feet above normal levels. Sasaki team members, including Ford, were in town for another project when the storms hit and experienced the flood firsthand. The redevelopment scheme they devised for what was to be billed as the ?year of the river? quickly became repurposed and refocused on recovery. Sasaki?s river corridor redevelopment plan for Cedar Rapids was put to the test last year, during another extreme weather event, held up and helped the city withstand and bounce back more quickly from flooding.
?Cedar Rapids is a small community, comparatively,? she says. ?What?s happening in Houston now is on a completely different scale.?
When she looks at what?s happening in the Houston area right now due to Harvey, she has incredible empathy for those coping with the unprecedented flooding, as well as an idea of how planners and city leaders may move forward once the waters recede and begin to ...