CEDAR FALLS (KWWL) -
For days, folks in the North Cedar neighborhood in Cedar Falls have been busy cleaning up soaked basements and trying to divert water away from their houses.
John Napier has lived in the neighborhood for more than 20-years.
He couldn't get his car pulled in his driveway on Tuesday because of standing water.
On Wednesday, he couldn't get in because of thick ice.
"With the ice now, it's almost impossible to walk on," said Napier who had trouble even getting his trash can from the curb because his entire driveway was iced over.
Napier also had extensive water damage in his basement and had to rip out the carpet.
"I guess I started Spring cleaning a little earlier than I had planned," he said. "I didn't plan on it this soon, but the basement's nice and clean now and floors are all mopped and ready to go."
Operations and Maintenance Division Manager for the City of Cedar Falls Brian Heath said there's not much the City can do to help.
"Until that frost releases and that water's able to penetrate the soil, there's really not much we can do there," he said.
Heath said the frozen water came from a nearby field.
Since North Cedar doesn't have a single storm sewer, there's nowhere for the water to drain except in the soil.
"We're doing what we can," said Heath. "It's just so flat, there's a lot of issues that come to play with the farm fields nearby and the frost in the ground...typically it's not a problem for us."
Heath said North Cedar does have a sanitary sewer system, but pumping water into that manhole could create serious health issues because if the water were to back up, it could actually back up into people's basements.
"At least the water is clean, there's no bacteria," said Heath.
Napier agreed, but said he hopes all the flooding doesn't happen again.
See previous story here.
