CEDAR RAPIDS - Residents in one Cedar Rapids neighborhood had to wait longer than any others to see their homes.

The city will have to demolish nearly every home in The Flats, a section of older homes across the river from the Czech Village. The area saw some of the worst devastation.

Michael Williams is the only person left on Hull Avenue. This single block was the last the city re-opened after the flood. Until just a few days ago, the water still stood in the streets.

"It's just going to be torn down. There won't be nothing left of this neighborhood," said Williams.

One of the oldest in Cedar Rapids, the area known as The Flats no longer has residents. Not one single structure there is safe enough to live in now.

The force of the flood in this neighborhood was so strong that it ripped some homes right off their foundations. Williams and his neighbors gathered up on the hill. When the levee broke, he says within just a few minutes, the water rushed all the way up to the top of his roof.

The river was already on the edge of Hull Avenue, which runs next to the old Sinclair Property. A boat took Williams and his neighbors to safety. His vehicles were the only thing salvageable after the water went down.

The only thing clear to him now is that he'll have to follow his neighbors out. After twenty years on this street, he never wants to come back.