CEDAR RAPIDS -- The Cedar Rapids City Council made several critical decisions about flood recovery Wednesday night, but many questions still need answers.

The council said three hundred properties need to be demolished immediately.

The property owners will likely get notified by the end of the week. Then, the city will knock down their home or business in about three days.

These are the properties with the purple placards on them. Inspectors say they're too unsafe for anyone to enter. That means no one will be able to get anything out of these properties simply because it's too dangerous.

Starting Thursday, people who have homes with red placards on them will be able to work with the fire department to get some of their possessions out.

Right now, the city is working a process to make sure this goes as smoothly and quickly as possible.

The council did not lift most of the restrictions on building permits because members said they need more information.

There's no clear answer as to when that information will be available, but every member stressed the importance of moving quickly.

Temporary homes are on the way to Cedar Rapids, too. City leaders have put in a request to the state and federal government for trailers and other temporary buildings to house people.

People who live in areas affected by the flooding told the city council they're tired of waiting for decisions.

Contractors can't get permits and rebuilding efforts can't happen until the council takes action.

"Let the contractors pull the permits and start getting on with rebuilding the city instead of just sitting back there and saying, 'Hmm. What are we going to do?' It's past that point now. Do something,” flood victim Toni Grimm said.

Council members said they understand the need for urgency, but they don't want to make any snap decisions that could potentially hurt people in the future.

"It is painstakingly slow sometimes. But, we want to make the decisions based on what's best for the entire community and make sure in this changing environment what we're putting back into this community, people will look to us as leaders,” council member Tom Podzimek said.

Many people are looking to city leaders for answers.

"I really want to know what's going to happen to Time Check. I've fought for the past six or seven years to save those houses,” flood victim Frank King said.

Council members said they couldn't really reply to those kinds of questions until they had more information.

"I think this community's been running on adrenaline for two weeks now. It's inevitable that there's going to be a let down. So, it's just important now to stay positive,” council member Pat Shey said.

It's tough to stay positive for some people though when everywhere they look, they see destruction.

"We need leadership. We don't need it in a month or two months. We need leadership now,” flood victim Jeff Gillespie said.

While there may not be any definite answers yet, every community leader seems confident Cedar Rapids will recover from the flood...even if it takes a little longer than some people would like.

More than 150 people attended tonight's council meeting at the AEGON auditorium.

At times, city staff members had to ask people to wait outside because the room was at its maximum capacity.

City council members said they are prepared to schedule meetings whenever necessary to keep the process moving as quickly as possible.