Receding flood waters reveal destruction

Receding water revealed widespread damage today in Iowa’s second-largest city, Cedar Rapids, caused by a record flood peak, while other Iowa cities faced rivers that were still rising, following a series of storms that left at least 15 people dead.

The Cedar River had fallen to 24.6 feet today, more than five feet below the crest of 31.1 feet it reached on Friday.

“As the river recedes we’re beginning to see the incredible destruction that is left behind,” said Dave Koch, spokesman for the city of Cedar Rapids, where the worst flooding has taken place.

The city planned to set up 10 checkpoints where residents will have to show an identity document and sign in before being allowed to return home to begin removing belongings. Houses where damage is severe will remain off limits, Mr Koch said.

Mr Koch said additional National Guard troops were being deployed to the city to help secure the perimeter around the flood area.

He said it would be two to three more days before the river drops enough so crews can begin pumping water back over the levees, and another week before the river falls below flood stage.

The flooding in Cedar Rapids swamped 1,300 city blocks, forced 24,000 people to flee their homes and nearly shut off the drinking water supply for the city.

But as the Cedar River retreated, the Iowa River was still rising at Iowa City, where water had already invaded parts of the University of Iowa campus and was not expected to peak until Monday or Tuesday.

“This is our version of Katrina,” Johnson County Emergency Management spokesman Mike Sullivan said of the flooding in Iowa City. “This is the worst flooding we’ve ever seen – much worse than 1993,” when much of the Midwest was hit by record flooding.

The drenching has also severely damaged the corn crop in Iowa, America’s number one corn state, and other parts of the Midwest at a time when corn prices are soaring and food shortages have led to violence in some poor countries.

At least three deaths in Iowa have been attributed to the storms and subsequent flooding, and 12 more have died in two recent tornadoes. The governor has issued disaster proclamations for 83 of the state’s 99 counties.

Elsewhere in the Midwest, hundreds of members of the Illinois National Guard headed to communities along the swollen Mississippi River for sandbagging duty while emergency management officials eyed rain-swollen rivers across the state.

“We’ve got south-eastern Illinois, western Illinois and now we have northern Illinois,” said Illinois Emergency Management Agency spokeswoman Patti Thompson.

Two levees broke yesterday near the Mississippi River town of Keithsburg, Illinois, flooding the town of 700 residents about 35 miles south-west of Moline. The National Weather Service said the Mississippi would peak on Tuesday morning near Keithsburg at 25.1 feet. Flood stage in the area is 14 feet. Rising water threatening approaches also prompted Illinois officials to close a Mississippi River bridge at Quincy.

A band of strong thunderstorms armed with wind up to 65 mph knocked out power during the morning to nearly 100,000 homes and businesses in northern Illinois, the utility ComEd reported.

In the Iowa state capital of Des Moines, a levee breach yesterday morning inundated a neighbourhood of more than 200 homes, a high school and about three dozen businesses.

Another levee break along the Iowa River in the south-eastern corner of the state swamped tiny Oakville, population 439, and authorities ordered evacuations in three other small towns clustered near the junction of the Iowa and Cedar rivers.

More stormy weather hit parts of the Midwest today. A band of strong thunderstorms armed with wind up to 65 mph knocked out power during the morning to nearly 100,000 homes and businesses in northern Illinois, the utility ComEd reported.

The worst damage to date was in Cedar Rapids, where early estimates put property damage at more than 700 million US dollars (£350 million), said fire department spokesman Dave Koch. He said about 9.2 square miles of the city was affected by flooding.

The immediate concern there had switched from the water flowing in the streets to that flowing out of people’s taps.

The municipal water system was back to 50% of capacity today, 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.

City utility director Pat Ball said that residents can shower and use toilets but they are still being asked to be very careful about how much water they use.

Just south of Cedar Rapids in Iowa City, officials said that the Iowa River was rising slower than expected and they were no longer sure if it would reach the projected peak of 33 feet or 34 feet. Still, it was already at 31.53 feet, more than 3 feet above the record set in 1993. Flood stage is 25 feet.

About 5,000 residents have been displaced in the Iowa City area that includes neighbouring Coralville. The two towns combined have about 78,000 people. Residents were under an overnight curfew.

One of the biggest concerns was the University of Iowa. The Iowa River splits the campus and damage has already been enormous. More than 20 buildings had taken on water, including the art museum, a recital hall and other buildings on what’s known as the Arts Campus.

The university suspended summer classes and told non-essential workers to stay away, but several hundred people turned out to help campus sandbagging efforts.

Iowa has had a wet spring, and at least 8 inches of rain have fallen since June 6. Next week is expected to be sunny and dry, but forecasters said Cedar Rapids could be in for more thunderstorms.