Rivers Rising In Waterlogged Midwest

Rainy Forecasts Threaten Communities All Along The Region's Rivers

(CBS/AP)  Residents were ordered to evacuate low-lying sections of towns along the overflowing Cedar River on Wednesday, and communities along the Mississippi River were warned that new rainfall would boost their expected flood crests.

Officials in Wisconsin, where this month's rainfall is approaching a record, planned to drain water from one reservoir to ease pressure on a dam, and were monitoring dams elsewhere in the state. High water in Indiana burst a levee Wednesday and flooded a vast stretch of farmland.

A new wave of rain showers spread across parts of Iowa on Wednesday, including some flood-threatened areas. The rain came as a band of storms rippled across the northern Plains.

As the rain fell and the rivers rose, vast stretches of Iowa simply went under, reports CBS News Correspondent Dean Reynolds from Cedar Rapids.

"It's unbelievable to say the least," said one man in Waterloo, Iowa. "It is shocking."

"I always wanted to live on the ocean," one Waterloo woman joked. "But not like this."

Across Iowa, entire blocks of residential streets disappeared. Highways were closed for good reason, bridges were overtopped, and all you could see of some communities were the tips of their houses. Iowa's neighbors were hardly better off.

In Indiana, 44 counties are now sodden disaster areas. And along the swollen Wabash River more than a thousand national guardsmen have been called out to help.

In Illinois, broken levees plunged thousands of acres of farmland under water and homes went right along with them.

In Wisconsin, half the state is flooded. Officials are monitoring dams, and an emergency has been declared in 30 counties.

Torrential rains like those today over the entire Midwest have brought up memories of 1993, another record setting rainfall season. The difference now is that people have learned how to manage it - at least to some extent.

Downtown Des Moines was under water Wednesday - but this time it was on purpose - and on schedule, reports CBS News weatherman Dave Price from Des Moines.

Overnight the Army Corps of Engineers slowly lowered six-foot emergency flood gates at Saylorville Lake, a man-made reservoir on The Des Moines River. This allowed a controlled flood, rather than a sudden rush of water, Price reported.

Even so, water was pouring out at as quickly as 314,000 gallons a second.

Manhole covers erupted as water rushed up into city streets from the sewer systems below.

Water rushed in from the sides too, as river surged into the city.

It was all too reminiscent of the '93 floods - when six states were declared disaster areas and 70,000 people were left homeless.

Since then, this inflatable gate system at Saylorville Lake was built. It is now being used for the first time.

Meanwhile, in Cedar Falls, which is to the northeast of Des Moines, a sandbagged levee prevented the Cedar River from flooding the city on Wednesday, but officials asked for extra volunteers to help shore it up. Just downstream along the Cedar River, the neighboring city of Waterloo ordered a mandatory evacuation of some neighborhoods, not because of the river but because the ground was saturated and pumping stations couldn't keep up, officials said.

To the southeast in Cedar Rapids, more than 200 residents of a neighborhood near the river were told to seek higher ground.

In Vinton, electricity was cut Wednesday morning when rising water affected the city's municipal power plant, said Steve Meyer, the assistant emergency operations center manager. He said a 15-block area near the river had already been evacuated.

"The water is at least 3 feet deep. It's still coming up," he said of the town, home of about 5,000 people between Cedar Falls and Cedar Rapids.

The Cedar River had been expected to top the Cedar Falls levee during the night and deluge the downtown area of the city of 35,000 people some 88 miles northeast of Des Moines. But city spokeswoman Susan Staudt said early Wednesday that the sandbags appeared to be holding.

Flood stage at Cedar Falls is 88 feet, and by about 5 a.m. the river stood at 101.8 feet, down slightly from earlier in the night. The previous record was 99.2 feet in 1999.

Thousands of volunteers who showed up Tuesday to help with the sandbagging effort "saved this city, but we are still at a critical point," Staudt said.

"If this breaks, the whole downtown will be flooded," she said. "Everything goes on down here. It would be a big hit to the community."

Greg Starbeck said Wednesday that he and his three daughters helped fill and stack sandbags until late Tuesday.

"Everybody is doing something, whether it's tying bags or getting water for other people," Starbeck said. His house was safe from flooding but water was 5 feet deep in a rental house he owns.

[minnick8-2009]

I don''''t get it: People who live in New Orleans, only SOME of which is below sea level, are told by some Americans that they need to move or be relocated -- "Who would be stupid enough to live below sea level?" --
Posted by pfanerk

Thirty five years ago, I was looking at atlasas and maps of New Orleans and figured out that it was a disaster waiting to happen. Thirty five years ago, I was a 23 year old woman who was raised in the desert and had never been to New Orleans. People I told my theory to about New Orleans told me I was just stupid and didn''t know what I was talking about. Well, guess what? Maybe I wasn''t so stupid after all.

My theory on New Orleans is that if we as a nation think the city is worth preserving, then we should build adequate levies and ***** to hold back the water much as has been done along the north sea by the Dutch. Their levies and ***** have been called the eighth wonder of the world. If building adequate protection isn''t a priorty and it doesn''t occur, then people who choose to continue to live there are doing it at their own risk.

To ask me where they should live instead, is a question that I cannot answer. It is true, that it is obvious that no matter where people choose to live, there are risks. I live in an area that is overdue for a big earthquake.

[minnick8-2009]

We will change our economy to a green economy, eliminate our current anti-progressive economy, and eliminate c02 pollution by 80% in our generation.
By Al 2008

How are we going to get China to eliminate cO2 pollution by 80 per cent. Does the U. S. have some way of mandating that?

[minnick8-2009]

Correction: That should be a 600 sq. ft apartment, not 60.

[minnick8-2009]

We the people call upon the governor to implement a comprehensive antiglobal warming strategy at once and work in coordination with state and federal officials; these tornadoes and storms continue to worsen and the quicker we stop the warming the sooner we will see these storms cease. We need action now.
Posted by AL2008

Al, Al, Your posts are so boring and redundant. Climate change has been going on since the earth was created. It has been estimated that the earth is about 4.5 billion years old. People came on the scene about 30,000 years ago which if you compare the time element to a 24 hour clock, puts peoples'' influence during the last ten minutes of time. What do you say about all the climate changes that occurred before man''s influence?

Yesterday, you said, "You will learn to live responsibly." I said that I live in a 60 sq. ft. apartment 3 blocks from work, and I drive a 1999 Ford Aspire. It has been years since I took off on any kind of a road trip.

I asked you to tell us about your last three vacations, and tell us about your house. You never answered.

Why won''t you tell us?

If you watch the video of the family whose house fell into the river you will learn they had no flood insurance because the couldn''t get any. That seems reasonable, if you build your house next to a river that is prone to flooding don''t expect an insurance company to take on the risk. But now this nice white middle class family with 3 perfect children are concocting a plan to get FEMA to cover their loss, and if that doesn''t work they are going to try to get some sort of government flood insurance program to sell them flood insurance retroactively. So yes, the white people who live near the water ARE demanding a full government ride, and you and I are going to pay for it if they get what they want.

They probably cooked up this idea while filling sandbags to save the last 5% of their property.

[al2008-2009]

I*m appalled at governor Doyle*s lack of response to the global warming thunderstorms, tornadoes, and floods. We have no comprehensive strategy in place whatsoever, let alone a detailed plan of action to mitigate the effects of these storms and tornadoes, and mother earth continues to suffer while the governor*s office refuses to go forward and do what*s right for mother earth.
.
How long must we sit idly by while our mother continues to suffer from the warming taking place at a feverish pace? How long must our mother suffer before we have proper c02 taxes put into place? How long must the destruction of mother earth take place before we finally put progressive regulations into effect? How long must we wait until we beef up our corn ethanol production? At least Obama wants to cut c02 pollution by 80%; he is definitely our best hope. As Obama has recently stated on Earth Day, we will save the planet. We will change our economy to a green economy, eliminate our current anti-progressive economy, and eliminate c02 pollution by 80% in our generation. This is a change we all definitely need, a much needed change for the better.
.
We the people call upon the governor to implement a comprehensive antiglobal warming strategy at once and work in coordination with state and federal officials; these tornadoes and storms continue to worsen and the quicker we stop the warming the sooner we will see these storms cease. We need action now.

[speedbitc]

Remember after Katrina they said pets wouldn''t be left behind during evacuations. Well in my town Columbus, WI they evacuated apartment buildings on Monday. Residents of these buildings were ordered to leave their pets behind. Two days later these pets were finally rescued after spending two days alone.

So much for the PETS act.

[pfanerk]

I don''t get it: People who live in New Orleans, only SOME of which is below sea level, are told by some Americans that they need to move or be relocated -- "Who would be stupid enough to live below sea level?" -- yet repeatedly we see floods along Mid-West rivers year after year. Where''s the outcry? These people in the Mid-West and Plains states know they live in tornado-prone, snow-prone and flood-prone areas, yet they remain. And year after year the government must bail them out. See the hypocrisy?

[minnick8-2009]

YOU and pretty much all americans
Posted by RobRoyh390

Since you obviously do not like America or anything American, log off the Internet and turn off your computer, turn out your lights, get rid of your phone and cell phone, unplug your refrigerator and stove and park your car. Go on a boycott against anything that was ever invented by an American and refuse to use it or buy it.

YOU is not a definiation for precisely what is bushbot buybull thumping trash, unless of course, it is YOU!

I think you are a 19 year old snot nosed brat, because generally, those who are in here that are extremely angry about 19. Go blow your nose.

[rushlimpdrug]

This reminds me, I need to return
the DVD "A River Runs Through It"

[ubrew12]

While it''s tough to blame a single series of storms on climate change, its expected that Global Warming will lead to greater drought in the West (except for W of the Cascades/Sierras), and greater climate variability (i.e. floods, droughts, heat waves, etc) in the East. These kinds of floods have undoubtedly happened before. Just expect them to happen with greater frequency in the near future. On the bright side, the growing season should grow (on the down side, so should the number of pests you have to spray against).

[nothappyatall]

Thunderstorms are predicted for the next five days.
Now watch the price of your food go up even more.
Posted by GrammaWhamma

I wonder if the bill to mandate an increase in the production of corn ethanol will still be in effect now that so much of the corn belt has been drenched?

Posted by minnick8

Yeah, exactly what Ive said before- relying on and mandating CROPS for anything like fuel is foolish at best, stupid at worst. WHile people dont have enough to eat vast quantities of grains and corn are squandered stuffing to mouths of PIGS, COWS and other food wasting livestock to produce meat at a loss of about 9# of grain and corn for ONE pound of meat.

Then you add the ethanol fiasco, and throw in a year or two of BAD weather causing failure and thats big trouble.

[robroyh390]

What precisely is bushbot buybull thumping trash?


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by minnick8 at 03:52 PM : Jun 11, 2008"

YOU and pretty much all americans

[mellonbaby23]

cry about your furniture.. who is helping those with out a voice?

[minnick8-2009]

Thunderstorms are predicted for the next five days.
Now watch the price of your food go up even more.
Posted by GrammaWhamma

I wonder if the bill to mandate an increase in the production of corn ethanol will still be in effect now that so much of the corn belt has been drenched?

[grammawhamma]

I just looked at the radar for Wisconsin. The same counties hardest hit are getting another storm. Thunderstorms are predicted for the next five days.

Now watch the price of your food go up even more.

[acolton1]

Chicago & Doobie Brothers concert tomorrow night I am so excited to see the Doobie Brothers.

STARLIGHT THEATER IN KANSAS CITY, IS FANTASTIC.

[minnick8-2009]

Does anyone know what is precisely bushbot buybull thumping trash?

Rob Roy called me that, and I''d like to know what it is that I am supposed to be. I don''t remember ever thumping trash.

[acolton1]

I live in the Midwest and It has been Raining way to much. Here in Kansas City at Starlight Theater the 2nd biggest outdoor theater in the US tomorrow night is Chicago & Doobie Brothers and Friday Night is Katt Williams.

It might rain for the Chicago / Doobie Brothers concert but for Katt Williams it''s forcast to be very nice.

Check out www.kcstarlight.com its a fantastic and classy place to see a Broadway show or Concert. Earth Wind and Fire will be there on September 20th.

[minnick8-2009]

bushbot buybull thumping trash believe that working is heretical
Posted by RobRoyh390

What precisely is bushbot buybull thumping trash?