WATERLOO - The nation's top disaster relief official got a ground-level view of Cedar River flood waters Thursday.

U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff met with Waterloo city officials on the Mullan Avenue bridge near Young Arena at 3 p.m. before traveling to Crystal Distribution Services, where workers were filling sandbags as water backed up in Lafayette Street.

"To a lay person's eye, it certainly seems to meet that standard of a once-in-every-500-years flood," Chertoff said. "In terms of river flooding, this seems very substantial. Clearly there's an awful impact in the communities along this river."

The secretary had previously visited western Iowa, where a deadly tornado touched down Wednesday.

"Really, this whole region got a double-whammy," said Chertoff, who returned to Washington and vowed to review requests for federal assistance. That aid could come in the form of individual assistance to those who were displaced by the floods and also could include public assistance, helping the local governments cover the costs incurred in flood-fighting efforts or in damage to structures, including roads and bridges.

Chertoff visited with a sandbagging crew working to protect Crystal's cold storage buildings in the former Rath Packing Co. buildings, and filled a sandbag.

Contact Tim Jamison at (319) 291-1577 or tim.jamison@wcfcourier.com