President Visits Flood-Ravaged Iowa

Surveys Damage With FEMA Administrator; 90-Mile Stretch Of Mississippi Predicted To Crest Near Record Level

(CBS/AP)  President Bush, surveying the aftermath of devastating floods during a lightning-quick tour of the Midwest on Thursday, assured residents and rescuers alike that he is listening to their concerns and understands their exhaustion.

"Obviously, to the extent we can help immediately, we will help," said Bush, still mindful of criticism that the government reacted slowly to Hurricane Katrina three years ago.

"You'll come back better," the president said while being briefed by state and local officials at a cinderblock emergency operations center set up at a community college here, part of a three-hour tour. "Sometimes it's hard to see it."

Bush was in Europe when tornadoes hit and heavy rains sent rivers surging over their banks, killing at least 24 people, the majority in Iowa.

The floods have left thousands homeless throughout the Midwest, prompting 33,000 requests for disaster assistance, 190,000 ready-to-eat meals and the need for 12.4 million sandbags, reports CBS News correspondent Ben Tracy. They've also washed out millions of acres of prime farm and grazing lands.

Bush made a point to try to show his deep concern while overseas and traveled to Iowa just two days after returning.

"I really don't have much of an opinion of his coming," said Lashawn Baker, 33, whose family was just starting to clean her flooded home in a southwest Cedar Rapids neighborhood. "It took him a long time to get to New Orleans and he didn't help any of those people, so I don't think he's going to do anything to help Cedar Rapids now that he's here."

Cedar Rapids was submerged in a dirty lake when the Cedar River crested almost 20 feet above flood stage. Now, with the floodwaters having receded, trash was everywhere and businesses and families were trying to determine what could be salvaged.

In Iowa City, a college town about 30 miles to the southeast, the damage was more limited when the Iowa River topped its banks.

But in Missouri and Illinois along the Mississippi River, the danger was still present - not past.

The river tore through a levee late Wednesday at Winfield, about 50 miles north of St. Louis. A second levee still protected most of the town of 720 residents, but residents were urged to evacuate.

Some who were leaving tried to save as many personal belongings as possible, reports Tracy.

"You just got to work as fast as you can because anything you leave is gonna be lost," resident Barbara Colbert told Tracy.

One resident, though, was hopeful his home would be saved. After devastating floods in 1993, Randy Ketteman's father-in-law built a concrete wall around his house, while his neighbors just laughed at him.

"I think Pop knew what he was doing," Ketteman told Tracy. "I am happy to have this wall here now because I think we're gonna save the house."

In the 150-resident village of Hamburg, Ill., also north of St. Louis, there was no levee to hold back the Mississippi, and Mayor Jim Fortner said about 50 prisoners were helping dozens of volunteers hastily add 2 to 3 feet to a half-mile wall of sandbags. The river, expected to continue rising, already had swamped the town's busiest street and significantly damaged seven homes.

"We have the resources and materials, but we need more people," Fortner said.

Another levee break earlier this week at Meyer, Ill., meanwhile, meant lower river levels for some towns downriver - Quincy, Ill., and Canton and Hannibal in Missouri - but only temporarily. The river was expected to rise again in all places on Friday.

The flooding wasn't expected to be quite as bad in St. Louis, but it was forcing the relocation of several upcoming festivals.

At the briefing in Cedar Rapids, Bush, his shirt sleeves rolled up, told local officials that he came "just to listen to what you've got on your mind."

Noting that several hundred federal emergency workers were fanning across Iowa, he added: "That ought to help the people in the smaller communities know that somebody is there to listen to them."

Looking across the room full of local officials and military personnel, who have taken part in grueling search-and-rescue efforts, he said: "You're exhausted and I understand that."

Bush went from there on a helicopter tour that revealed an area that, though mud-caked, was beginning to return to normal. The president then visited Iowa City to the south, chatting with employees of a riverside company used as a staging area for volunteers, propping up spirits at a Red Cross emergency shelter and walking to the water's edge in a flooded-out neighborhood.

His shirt drenched in sweat, Bush said he brought a lot of federal officials along on his trip to make sure that they coordinate with their local counterparts now as well as when rebuilding begins.

"I really did want again to congratulate the local folks for showing great compassion, working hard, hugging people and giving people hope," he said.

The sluggish federal response when Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast in 2005 was judged woefully inadequate and brought heavy criticism of Bush and FEMA. It also brought sensitivity on the part of federal officials each time disaster has struck since to show that things were working better.

FEMA Administrator R. David Paulison accompanied Bush to Iowa on Air Force One and praised the "great coordination" between federal, state and local leaders.

Paulison said one thing FEMA was doing differently was working better with other partners - the Army Corps of Engineers and even Wal-Mart - to distribute supplies. The agency also was placing stocks of sandbags and other supplies in states or towns where flooding hadn't hit yet or material had not been requested, just to be ready, he said.

A housing task force was being formed in every state to meet the next big challenge.

David Garratt, FEMA's acting head of disaster assistance, said during a conference call from Washington that the administration didn't believe there would be a large need for temporary housing and that what need there was would likely be handled "through existing rental resources."

Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the presumed Republican nominee for president, also visited Iowa on Thursday in a tour separate from Bush's. His opponent, Democratic Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, helped fill sandbags over the weekend in Quincy, Ill.

[squamous101]

Those sandbags look like coke. The CIA better inventory its stash.
Posted by SistaTee at 10:44 PM

No coke here--sistaTee has it all down on the gulf coast.

[omnibus66]

The millions of tax dollars wasted for this photo op for smirk face could have actually helped some families in need. Instead, like the money flushed down the toilet in Iraq, it only serves to bolster the ego of the Idiot-In-Chief.

[mommakat64]

ubrew...what?? All rivers run along flood plains..get it, "flood" plains. I grew up living by the Mississippi; I live now by the Columbia River. ALL rivers flood..some years more so, some years less. People who live near the "Miss" know that she''ll flood every now and then..it has absolutely NOTHING to do with the global warming scam..it''s just nature.

[mommakat64]

ubrew...what?? All rivers run along flood plains..get it, "flood" plains. I grew up living by the Mississippi; I live now by the Columbia River. ALL rivers flood..some years more so, some years less. People who live near the "Miss" know that she''ll flood every now and then..it has absolutely NOTHING to do with the global warming scam..it''s just nature.

[mommakat64]

ubrew...what?? All rivers run along flood plains..get it, "flood" plains. I grew up living by the Mississippi; I live now by the Columbia River. ALL rivers flood..some years more so, some years less. People who live near the "Miss" know that she''ll flood every now and then..it has absolutely NOTHING to do with the global warming scam..it''s just nature.

[watcher269-2009]

This should Pisss everyone off:

Vice President *** Cheney has won his battle to withhold records from the public despite efforts by Congress and other critics who say they should be open to scrutiny.

The Democrats are conceding defeat. The party''s top investigator in the House of Representatives acknowledges that there is nothing more he can do to force the vice president''s hand.

"He has managed to stonewall everyone," said Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. "I''m not sure there''s anything we can do."

[messiahx4eve]

my bad, I meant problem, got cats.......

[messiahx4eve]

As usual, the decider has figured out that by just "thinking about the problme" means its half way done and solved, you go zippy, you da man!!!! Whar''s mah bait and geetar, laura?

[dobbershome]

jboxton is an idiot!

[dobbershome]

jboxton is an idiot!

[dobbershome]

jboxton is an idiot!

[dobbershome]

jboxton is an idiot!

[dobbershome]

jboxton is an idiot!

[dobbershome]

jboxton is a degenerate!

[para101]

For the inbred person that said the farmers and people of Iowa deserve what they got because they hunt and fish is so down right ignorant. Hey dumb *** us stupid Iowans feed your stupid ***.

[haoli25]

Enough is enough!!! They have just discovered ICE on Mars, so I am packing up my scotch and moving there.

[para101]

The Mississippi rarely ever floods in most cities. I have lived here 39 years and never have seen Cedar Rapids flooded, Burlington, Iowa City, or Fort Madison flooded like it has this past two weeks. I live right in Fort Madison, Iowa so sir I would think you need to keep your idiotic comments to yourself. Not one state is calm and collected with the weather so where do you suggest we live. If you don''t live here then you have no clue of what happens here. So I guess if I lived in Oklamhoma and Texas I should move because they get bad storms all the time or better yet I should not live in Alaska or California because they have earthquakes. New York City and Chicago always have terriost threats. Hawaii always have volcanoes. Minnesota has terrible blizzards the only thing you can do is be prepared. Anything can happen anywhere at anytime. And to you politic lovers we are thankful that we were not forgotten this time since most of our crops and livestock feed the rest of the country. I thank President Bush for taking time out of his busy schedule, however, Iowans stick together and help each other out. Not all Iowans voted for Obama either. I was a Clinton voter. I really doubt if we get help from Bush!! If Bush wanted to help he would put a cap on all oil companies, like Nixon had done. That is what President Bush can do for the flood victims is put a cap on gas and food and quit lining his own pockets while he is in office. This is some ***!

[downtowner97]

It''s funny how you can blame Bush for the terrible state of this country and Bush supporters will say it''s not his fault. They say that the president doesn''t really have much to do with anything. Ask those same people what they think of Obama and they tell you he''ll singlehandedly destroy the country.

[gisdude]

It''s a good idea to periodically check your home''s flood zone status. www.freeflood.com is a good site to do it. Be prepared!

[j-whitman]

I hope Iowans remember Bush saying he was going to quit plaing golf for our troops - Then turned right around & kept playing.

Fema got caught also, they''ve resumed giving much needed supplies to Katrina victems today.