The flash flooding of the Maquoketa River's north fork filled the same low spots that were engulfed during the June 2008 flooding. Candy Cane and Westside Parks were under water by early Friday morning. Floodwaters forced the closure of portions of busy thoroughfares, including Third Street SW, First Avenue NW and the Beltline running along the railroad tracks on the north end of Dyersville.
Residents on streets several blocks away from the river also saw rising waters creep up toward houses, forcing sandbagging along garage fronts in the hopes of fending off the murky menace. The aforementioned Candy Cane Park filled up in rapid fashion. The bottom of a volleyball net - approximately four feet off the ground - clearly illustrated just how high the floodwaters had arisen in short order.
"I've got 'lake view' property," joked Don Von Lehmden, who stood at the edge of the park. Von Lehmden built his home at 717 Fourth St. SE a half century ago in 1960. In his 50 years at the busy corner of Fourth Street And Eighth Avenue, Von Lehmden said he has never seen flooding to the depth of this last flood. That was an opinion echoed by many throughout the day, with most residents of the opinion that the flooding had topped even the June 2008 deluge.
Dave and Janet Clemen, of 602 Third St. SE, agreed. "We moved here in 1993," Dave said of the couple's home. "Four times since 1993," he said, shaking his head in disbelief as he referred to the amount of times high water has encroached on his property.
Janet is of the opinion that the more frequent flooding over the last two decades is a result of engineering miscalculations regarding the Highway 20 expansion project, which turned Highway 20 into a divided four-lane highway back in the 1980s. "All of that concrete. The water has no place to go," she stated.
Jessica Gannaway lives in a house on higher ground on Dyersville's north end on Sixth Avenue NW. The house was originally constructed at a site near the St. Francis Xavier Basilica. "We were flooded in 2002 and we moved the house north in 2003," Gannaway said. That move did not prevent Gannaway from being stuck by floodwaters, however. She was returning home Friday morning and found all roads leading to her house were closed due to the flood. She decided to wait out the high waters to see if they would recede enough to enable her to head for home. Despite the wait, fortified with the knowledge her house was safe, Gannaway still had her sense of humor regarding the high waters. "If we get flooded, Dyersville is in trouble."