CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — A city already deluged by record-breaking floods was pummeled with more rain overnight, swelling the Cedar River enough to require the evacuation of a local hospital and the closing of a major highway. Forecasters predicted that the water would crest by the end of the day and begin to slowly recede over the weekend.
Officials at Mercy Medical Center hospital, fearing they would lose power, decided to send its 176 patients, including babies in intensive care and nursing home residents, to other facilities. On Thursday morning, the hospital had switched to backup generators, which were threatened by floodwaters hours later.
Bit out of the loop about all this, lacking a teevee at the moment.