Mo. Towns Hold Breath As More Levees Break

Major Flooding Expected, With Smaller Towns Absorbing Most Of The Damage

(CBS/AP)  For the second time in 15 years, Keith Aubuchon found himself packing his belongings and evacuating his home to escape a "100-year" flood of the Mississippi River.

He returned and remodeled his house after the flood of 1993. This time, he doesn't know if it will be worth coming back.

"This is my second flood. I don't think there will be a third," Aubuchon said as he drove a pickup truck loaded with a washing machine and other belongings out of his subdivision. Floodwaters rapidly filled the roads, yards and gullies behind him just hours after a levee breached north of Foley. Authorities estimate much of the small town will be flooded by the weekend.

Three Mississippi River levees broke Thursday in Lincoln County, sending a creeping wave of water toward Foley and causing more concern in nearby Winfield.

The river was overflowing 90 percent of the levees in eastern Lincoln County, and at least four more breaches were expected to aggravate the flooding overnight, said Lincoln County Emergency Management spokesman Andy Binder.

While the situation worsened in Lincoln County, it improved slightly elsewhere along the river after the National Weather Service significantly lowered crest predictions. The revisions came after several levee breaks in Illinois, including one on Wednesday near Meyer that potentially could inundate 17,000 acres of farmland with water that otherwise would have been flowing south.

That means many towns along the river won't see the record-level flood crests they expected. The new prediction shows St. Louis cresting at 37.3 feet on Friday, well short of the 49.58-foot mark in 1993.

But National Weather Service meteorologist Jim Kramper said river towns aren't safe yet.

"There will still be a lot of places with major flooding," Kramper said. "Even at the levels we're expecting now, a lot of places are threatened."

The relief came at a cost for communities where levees failed. The first levee breached in Lincoln County on Wednesday near Winfield, about 50 miles north of St. Louis, followed Thursday by the series of breaks that spilled water into sparsely populated areas, Binder said.

The southward flows were expected to put increasing pressure on a series of inland levees protecting the towns of Winfield and Elsberry. To help raise the levees an additional 2 feet, dozens of volunteers filled tens of thousands of sandbags in Winfield. The bags were piled onto pallets and shipped to the levees where roughly 150 National Guard members stacked them on top of the existing walls.

"It's about the most rewarding thing I've done in a long time," said David Hays, a computer programmer from Chesterfield, Mo., who took time off work to help fill sandbags. "I was filling sandbags until I couldn't move my arms. Then I held bags until my shoulders hurt. Then I became a supervisor."

The river in this region had been expected to crest Monday, but officials now say it will be about three feet lower than previously estimated, reports CBS News correspondent Ben Tracy from Winfield.

In Iowa, where residents are mopping up after the deluge in Des Moines and Iowa City, President Bush surveyed the flood's aftermath on Thursday and assured residents and rescuers alike that he is listening to their concerns.

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

"You'll come back better," the president said. "Sometimes it's hard to see it."

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 Tracy. They've also washed out millions of acres of prime farm and grazing lands.

Mr. 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. He made a point to try to show his 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."

At the briefing in Cedar Rapids, Mr. 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."

The sluggish federal response when 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 Mr. 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.

[oneworldusa]

"Bush walks by a sandbag levee.."

-He couldn''t have even helped with just one, not even for at least a photo op?

Everything on earth when it comes to the weather happens in cycles. Now everyone knows why the land in this area is so rich fo farming. The people in that area know what could happen, but a year after the floods in 93, was the best year in decades for crops.....Too bad for all the toxic chemicals that affected the area, big industry needs to clean up their acts.....

[wolfear1]

Are you telling us that the government isn''''t
out there blowing up the levees?
Posted by rushlimpdrug at 03:13 PM : Jun 20, 2
______________________________________________________

What I am telling you is that the government has known those levees were insufficient since Camille and did nothing to improve them. And before somebody starts talking about people helping themselves those levees were suppose to have been maintained by the Corp of Engineers and weren''t. So did the government blow up levees? Probably not, would I put it past them? no. Was their negligence to the infrastructure of this city criminal? Yes. And I am not blaming just Bush I blame pretty much every president since LBJ that ignored this problem.

[rushlimpdrug]

Posted by wolfear1 at 02:45 PM

Are you telling us that the government isn''t
out there blowing up the levees?

[wolfear1]

A. Because it wasn''t a Vanilla state to start w/ We actually have a very high number of hispanics here due to meat processing and the Oldest standing Mosque in America is in Cedar rapids, IA.

Q. Where is the hysterical 24/7 media coverage complete with reports of cannibalism?

A. There is coverage 24/7 and reports about shooting pigs on levees. Not quite cannibalism but you get the point.

Q.Where are the people declaring that George Bush hates white, rural people?

A. They are here, just not on camera.

Q. How come in 2 weeks, you will never hear about the Iowa flooding ever again?

A. because as a rule we Americans have a very short attention span for things like this and the media will move on.

[wolfear1]

ok I think I have the answer to many of your questions, I will try and answer them in order.

Q. Where are all of the Hollywood celebrities holding telethons asking for help in restoring Iowa and helping the folks affected by the floods?

A. Well there is Farm Aid which will help to benefit the Iowa and others effected by the storms.

Q. Where is all the media asking the tough questions about why the federal government hasn''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''t solved the problem? Asking where the FEMA trucks (and
trailers) are?

A. Not sure where they are. I think Brittany Spears'' little sister just had a baby.

Q. Why isn''t the Federal Government relocating Iowa people to free hotels in Chicago?

A. Because they are relocating them to free hotels in Iowa.

Q. When will Spike Lee say that the Federal Government blew up the levees that failed in Des Moines?

A. Not sure what Spike is up to these days.

Q. Where are Sean Penn and the Dixie Chicks?

A. Not sure where Sean Penn is but I think the Dixie Chicks are playing Farm Aid.

Q. Where are all the looters stealing high-end tennis shoes and big screen television sets?

A, Actually most of that stuff is pretty much ruined right now and nobody wants it.

Q. When will we hear Governor Chet Culver say that he wants to rebuild a "vanilla" Iowa, because that''s the way God wants it?

[mjvw2]

Where are all of the Hollywood celebrities holding telethons asking for help in restoring Iowa and helping the folks affected by the floods?

Where is all the media asking the tough questions about why the federal government hasn''''''''''''''''t solved the problem? Asking where the FEMA trucks (and
trailers) are?

Why isn''''''''''''''''t the Federal Government relocating Iowa people to free hotels in Chicago?

When will Spike Lee say that the Federal Government blew up the levees that failed in Des Moines?

Where are Sean Penn and the Dixie Chicks?

Where are all the looters stealing high-end tennis shoes and big screen television sets?

When will we hear Governor Chet Culver say that he wants to rebuild a "vanilla" Iowa, because that''''''''''''''''s the way God wants it?

Where is the hysterical 24/7 media coverage complete with reports of cannibalism?

Where are the people declaring that George Bush hates white, rural people?

How come in 2 weeks, you will never hear about the Iowa flooding ever again?

Posted by endpcnow

[jessamae369]

Just bulldoze it all and move to higher ground. And don''''t forget to take all of your Budweiser with you.


sounds like a very good idea.

[pfanerk]

Just bulldoze it all and move to higher ground. And don''t forget to take all of your Budweiser with you.

[jessamae369]

jessamae369 wrote:
"this is just rediculous...i have lived half my life in the midwest and half my life on the east coast, it has nothing to do with education or status. everything happens for a reason, we are suppose to be supporting eachother and helping eachother in times of need. it shouldnt matter how you grew up or where, wouldnt you want someone there to help if your world was disappearing around you??? after all, you arent to educated to lose everything...(pardon my misuse of the english grammar, us east coasters arent that more educated than any one else) lol "

--------------
Hahaha! This proves my point 100%. Rediculous? We are SUPPOSE to be? Is eachother one word? Is your apostrophe key broken? Thanks for proving my point, dummy.

-----------------------------------------------------
okay...this isn''t english class, if i wanted a grammar lesson i sure the hell would not have come to you. did anyone ask you to pick apart their sentences?? do every one a favor and lose the key board because your stupidity in thinking that we care what you think has gotten old.