Iowa flood threat moves south
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) - June 16, 2008 Elsewhere in the soaked Midwest, National Guard soldiers hoped
to fill about 500,000 sandbags by Monday to fortify levees along a
15-mile stretch of the Mississippi River near Quincy, Ill., and
flood waters began to recede in parts of western Michigan.
The Iowa River's crest arrived early and lower than expected,
possibly because of a number of levee breaches downstream that
opened the channel, the National Weather Service said. Gov. Chet
Culver called word of Iowa City's crest "a little bit of good
news," but cautioned that the situation was still precarious.
Hundreds of homes were evacuated near the river Sunday, though
it wasn't immediately clear how many suffered damage. More than a
dozen buildings on the University of Iowa campus had taken on
water, but school officials said they believed others were
protected.
As Iowa City hoped to elude the worst damage, the state had a
multi-front battle on its hands. State officials warned of problems
ahead for a string of towns in southeast Iowa along the Mississippi
River, led by Burlington, a key railroad hub.
"It's likely that we will see major and serious flooding on
every part of the southeastern border of our state from New Boston
and down," Culver said. "We are taking precautionary steps, we
are evacuating where necessary, but that is going to be the next
round here."
Early Monday, more than 36,000 residents in 26 communities had
been evacuated from their homes, said Kevin Baskins of the state
Emergency Operations Center. Most of those - 25,000 - were in Cedar
Rapids, and another 5,000 in Iowa City, he said.
Eight people were pulled Sunday from the flooded Des Moines
River in Ottumwa after their boat capsized, police Chief Jim Clark
said. The boaters were exhausted, cold and showing some confusion.
Four were being treated for hypothermia, Clark said.
On Monday, the river was at more than 20 feet - double the flood
stage.
Sandbagging was under way in Ottumwa to protect the city's water
treatment plant. Sandbagging was also being done in Burlington to
build the city's levee system and protect it from the Mississippi
River. Baskins said 350 people had been evacuated from their home
in Burlington.
Also on the Mississippi River, the Army Corps of Engineers said
Lock 12 at Bellevue, south of Dubuque, was reopened to river
traffic on Sunday. But locks 13-25 remained closed, making 281
miles of the Mississippi from Winfield, Mo., to Fulton, Ill.,
inaccessible to commercial river traffic.
About 30 inmates from the Iowa State Penitentiary helped to
sandbag in Burlington, a city of about 27,000. Already the city's
four-story Memorial Auditorium was surrounded by water and some
evacuations were under way.
In Iowa City, a town of about 60,000 where the Iowa River
bisects both the school and the town, residents were cheered by the
lower crest.
Donna Dubberke, a meteorologist with the National Weather
Service in Davenport, said one reason that Iowa City's troubles may
have eased was levee bursts down the river.
"Downstream there are some levees that have broken and we
believe that some of that water is able to go off in those areas so
that just provides a little more storage," Dubberke said.
The University of Iowa said 16 buildings had been flooded,
including one designed by acclaimed architect Frank O. Gehry. Some
buildings have as much as 8 feet of water inside.
"I'm focused on what we can save," University of Iowa
President Sally Mason said as she toured her stricken campus.
"We'll deal with this when we get past the crisis. We're not past
the crisis yet."
All elective and non-emergency procedures were canceled at the
university hospital, and non-critical patients were discharged,
Mason said. Nurses were brought in from elsewhere to ensure all
emergency shifts would be covered.
Iowa City Mayor Regenia Bailey said 500 to 600 homes were
ordered to evacuate and hundreds of others were under a voluntary
evacuation order through Monday morning. The city had no estimate
of the number of homes that had actually flooded.
Bailey said homeowners will not be allowed back until the city
determines it's safe.
Culver said cities big and small were getting adequate support
in their efforts to survive the flooding.
"While we are having challenges in our urban centers we have
multiple ongoing battles in the smaller communities," he said.
"And we are doing just as much to help those rural, more remote
areas of the state."
The threat to southeast Iowa was already taking shape, though
the Mississippi River is days from cresting. State officials girded
for serious flooding threats, sending 500 National Guard troops to
Burlington.
More than 400 members of the Illinois Army National Guard were
activated to assist with sandbagging efforts in Quincy. About 100
miles up the river in Keithsburg, a community of about 700
residents, water sat as high as 3 or 4 feet, said George Askew, an
alderman. Multiple levee breaks prompted voluntary weekend
evacuations.
"We're just biding the raising of the water and helping people
who have to get their stuff out," Askew said.
The National Weather Service said the river was expected to
crest there Tuesday just above 25 feet. Flood stage in the area is
14 feet.
The Iowa River breached levees in the town of Columbus Junction
on Saturday evening, leaving much of the downtown, including a
medical center, senior center, water plant and a couple dozen other
businesses, under about 10 feet of water.
"So we ended up losing the battle, but there are a lot of good
things that come out of an effort like that," said Mayor Dan
Wilson. "The community spirit has been phenomenal."
In Cedar Rapids - where flooding had forced the evacuation of
about 24,000 people from their homes - residents waited hours to
get their first up-close look since flooding hammered most of the
city earlier this week.
Some grew angry after long waits to pass through checkpoints.
Cedar Rapids officials also were inspecting homes for possible
electrical and structural hazards.
"It's stupid," said Vince Fiala, who said he waited for hours
before police allowed him to walk five blocks to his house.
"People are down on their knees and they're kicking them in the
teeth."
The city's municipal water system was back to 50 percent of
capacity Sunday, a big victory after three of the city's four
drinking water collection wells were contaminated by murky,
petroleum-laden floodwater. That contamination had left only about
15 million gallons a day for the city of more than 120,000 and the
suburbs that depend on its water system.
Meanwhile, flood waters receded in parts of western Michigan as
the state tried to recover from a second straight weekend of severe
weather.
The latest flooding followed rain that totaled 11 inches in less
than 12 hours Thursday and Friday near Scottville, east of
Ludington. The Pere Marquette River that enters Lake Michigan at
Ludington in the western Lower Peninsula receded to 4.87 feet over
flood stage Sunday afternoon, according to the National Weather
Service.
About 29 roads in Mason County remained closed Sunday because of
flooding. A sewage main that served about 90 percent of Ludington
broke as a result of the rains, and repairs were completed Sunday
afternoon. Drinking water in the city of 8,400 was safe, the
officials said.
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Associated Press writers Maria Sudekum Fisher in Columbus
Junction, Iowa, and Henry C. Jackson in Des Moines contributed to
this report.