(CEDAR RAPIDS) – Cedar Rapids city leaders and several Linn County officials have released new information about clean-up efforts for homeowners and businesses after the Flood of 2008.

Cedar Rapids Fire Chief Dave Koch says 1300 city blocks have been affected by flood waters. He estimates total property value in the city affected by flooding at nearly 737 million dollars. Of that, 375 million dollars is residential property.

Late Saturday afternoon some downtown businesses are getting to go back into their buildings to pick up essential items. Koch says firefighters are escorting them with gas monitors because of potential gas leaks that cancelled the same operation earlier this morning. Those firefighters will use the monitors to make sure buildings are safe before anyone enters them.

Cedar Rapids police chief Greg Graham said the city plans to start sending strike teams made up of people from search and rescue, the health department, law enforcement, animal control, the Iowa National Guard, and building safety personnel.

The city has divided up the flood-affected areas into 10 separate sectors and will divide up the teams accordingly. Graham said the strike teams will do inspections of buildings and homes, and once they are safe they will identify that with placards or some other system on the doors. They will also maintain a list of homes and businesses that are deemed safe for return.

Officials are working on a web site to put that information up so that citizens can get to it.

According to Graham, the city will then set up check points where homeowners will have to show identification, sign in and out, and get a wristband so that the return process is secure.

The curfew for Cedar Rapids has been CHANGED to start at 8 PM and last through 7 AM. That means once homes are able to be entered, people will only be able to do so from 7 AM to 8 PM.

Chief Graham stressed the importance of continuing their efforts because now is the time people start to get injured. He says that’s because people often try to do too much too fast once they get back into their houses.

At the same press conference, a spokesperson from Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids says they expect to be fully operational in two weeks but that is an aggressive goal.

Later on Saturday, they plan to have a disaster recovery team start removing damaged carpet and other materials out of the hospital. At St. Luke’s Hospital, power has been restored and they plan to be fully operational by Saturday evening.