VINTON - All that’s left of 201 East Third street is rubble. Watch The Video

“The house just got done before the flood, brand new roof, fixing this and fixing that, it was just starting to look really nice,” said neighbor Jack Harris.

When the Cedar River poured through Vinton, the water was 5 feet deep around here.

Thursday the city started knocking down 16 flooded homes considered structurally unsound.

The same company that demolished the homes in Cedar Rapids is tearing these down too.

“It’s kind of a weird feeling that you are taking everything that somebody worked so hard for,” said George Heeren with D.W. Zinser.

The homes come down in less than an hour, it takes the rest of the day to clear out the rubble.

One by one, each home will come down, replaced with green space.

“Word is most of the homes on this block will get torn down, and neighbors say it will be weird looking across the street and only seeing this one house,” Harris.

Harris wishes it didn’t have to be this way.

For the last four years, Harris has watched this neighborhood start to come back and look good again.

Then the flood hit.

“I would like to see homes put back in, instead of having parks,” said Harris.

But, that’s not happening, and Harris says it will just take time to adjust.

And 201 East Third Street will just look different.

Email Justin Foss at Justin.Foss@kcrg.com