Levees break as Midwest floods worsen

[melissinha]

Source: MSNBC

LAKE DELTON, Wis. - Storms overnight added to swollen rivers and caused new levee breaks that swamped Illinois farms and homes — part of a week of severe weather that's claimed 15 lives and is expected to continue in the nation's heartland, impacting food prices across the country.

Three levee breaks along the Embarras and Wabash rivers in Illinois were causing widespread flash flooding of nearby areas — including Lawrenceville, a town of 5,000, and several smaller communities.

....

In Wisconsin, engineers kept watch over rain-deluged dams Tuesday after a major collapse nearly emptied Lake Delton in a torrent that washed away houses and a highway.

And officials in Cedar Falls, Iowa, were telling residents and business owners in downtown to begin preparing for a possible evacuation as the Cedar River keeps rising.


Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25020185

---

People, this isn't over yet. As far as my hometown goes it is worse than 1993. People are being advised to evacuate Waterloo Ia (next to Cedar Falls, IA) just this afternoon. This appears to be worsening in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Iowa as well as affecting the electric power for Michigan, Indiana and Ohio (it appears as if flooding has subsided in theses states?)

I know we are all preoccupied with the Presidential Race and Kucinich's Articles of Impeachment, but the death toll just doubled overnight in the MidWest.

This, in my opinion is one of the most important reasons for a Democrat in the White House, we need competency in FEMA as well as other organizations like OSHA and MSHA (Mining).

[whistle]

1. Same negligence that the New Orleans levies suffered from under Bush

...appointees to these agencies who have used bureaucratic red tape to side track all action and spending on infrastructure

[Thothmes]

27. Bet those levees were built by theCorp decades ago.

A long time before the current Bush.

[defendandprotect]

39. But . . . were they properly maintained/inspected . . . ??? Meanwhile . . .

we are beginning to see the destructive powers of Global Warming ---

and we still cannot imagine what compounding effects may be ---

[defendandprotect]

41. Not hard to guess . . . . With all this going on, you still have electricity/internet?

[HereSince1628]

2. Pictures from local Milwaukee station...

http://www.todaystmj4.com/news/local

It ain't over yet.

[kestrel91316]

19. Boy, if that dam goes up in Mukwanago, the Fox River could flood.

Aren't there some REALLY expensive homes along the river IIRC? Where various pro athletes and the uber-wealthy live? Betcha they never thought THEY could get flooded out......

[aquart]

25. Allowing one minute (60 seconds) for schadenfreude.

Although I'd actually hate it if the pro-athletes lose their homes. They don't come from trust funds, and these lavish houses are the sum of dreams for their entire families.

[HereSince1628]

28. There are 2 fox rivers in Wisconsin.

One up toward Green Bay and the other that starts west of Milwaukee and flows into the Illinois. I'm not aware of any pro-athletes who live on either but there might be.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

3. Have there been more major disasters since Bush has been in office?

Or do they just seem more disastrous due to the federal responses?

Either way, those poor people. :(

[greyghost]

9. Both

[jaksavage]

4. I had no idea!

That there are so many sinners in that area.
Otherwise why would God treat them this way?

[Eurobabe]

5. Scary stuff, flooding

I went through a flood in northern OH in the winter of 1970 and it was pretty frightening. Nothing happened to us, but many of my school friends had severe water damage in their homes.

Sending vibes out to all who are suffering in this situation.

[RainDog]

6. We had 11 inches of rain on Sat.

two more yesterday

flash floods last Thurs.

have not had access to highways north of us due to flooding since Thurs. People have to detour around a town that is mostly flooded out.

have bridges in town closed, still, because they're unsafe

http://www.heraldtimesonline.com/htoxtras/galleries/indexnews.php?e=774

a slide show of my city's downtown

[awoke_in_2003]

11. I feel for you

Please feel free to send some of it down here, we can take it.

[Delphinus]

14. OMG!

RainDog, those are stunning photographs - I feel for all involved in this flood. My goodness - it takes my breath away.

[kestrel91316]

20. I know some people in Bloomington and Indianapolis....

hope they are ok......

[defendandprotect]

40. Wow . . . we're all on our way to being KATRINA'ed . . . .

11 inches of rain in one day!!!

Losses will be astronomical -- !!!

[trashcanistanista]

7. Who is on board helping and where do

we give to help? I'm guessing no signs of FEMA.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

8. The Embarras doesn't usually cause a problem

(It's pronounced "Em buh RAW", btw). It does run by some good farm land. The Wabash can be ugly. And around Lawrenceville are oil wells--they could be impacted by flooding as well. And this is just the beginning. The Ohio River will be next as these flood waters move south.

[AwakeAtLast]

42. I drove over the Embarras today - it was ugly.

I was very relieved to be able to get over it. I have seen it flood many, many times. They were supposed to close IL 1 and old US 50 tonight.

Water, water everywhere. :(

[CoffeeCat]

10. I'm in Iowa as well...

I'm sorry for what you are experiencing! You are in Cedar Falls, correct?

I am in a Des Moines suburb (Ankeny), and we are on pins and needles. Saylorville lake/dam--flows down into
Des Moines--and the water is expected to breach the emergency spillway tonight. You are right--
and I think this point is so important. THIS IS WORSE THAN 1993! .

After 1993, the emergency spillway had 6 extra feet in height added. Now, the water is going
to go over that tonight. The Saylorville water level is now 887.39 and expected to hit 889
tonight, at which point the water will top the emergency spillway and flow directly to downtown
Des Moines.

All major bridges in the downtown Des Moines area have been closed.

I just listened to the news, and apparently a huge "bubble" of water is heading from Northern Iowa
to Saylorville. This from the weekend rain that fell, which has been moving from Northern Iowa
down to the South.

When this "bubble" hits, the levels will go to 890. The record level in 1993 was 892.

The problem is--Northern Iowa and also the Des Moines area, are supposed to be slammed with
rain tonight, tomorrow and Thursday. I just heard we're supposed to get 2-4 inches of rain.

We're talking unprecedented, historical flood levels--worse than 1993.

In Cedar Rapids, the Cedar River will crest at 21.5. In 1993, it crested at 19.27. City officials
say they have no idea what will happen--because this has never happened.

We were told 1993 was a 500 year flood and here we are 15 years later!

Stay safe Melissinha--and keep us updated. You should post on the Iowa board as well.

[melissinha]

17. I live in Austin Texas

I am very interested and worried because I am from Decorah IA and used to live in Cedar Falls and Waterloo. I am worried for you!!

I'm safe, but wishing I were there to help you guys!

Just trying to keeo the DU updated on the flood.

[StClone]

22. Decorah set a record at 17.9 feet over flood stage

On the Upper Iowa river. Old record a mere 15.2! The Hwy 24 bridge at Fort Atkinson was one-year old and was washed out as was the nearby railroad bridge.

Here are photos from the radio station KDEC: http://www.kdecradio.com/contentdisplay.asp?id=Promo_Student


Unfortunately the New Super Duper Walmart built in the flood plain managed to stay dry.

[melissinha]

23. thanks for the link on kdec

That give some pretty scary aerial views.... WOW! the bridge in Bluffton is completely submerged!!

OMG!!! I used to live a few blocks away from the Fairgrounds!!! Thats soem heavy flooding!

[Skittles]

44. I lived in Decorah for 1 year and Austin for 17

yes INDEED

[kestrel91316]

21. I'm glad my niece finished up at U of I and is now in Costa Rica.

[CoffeeCat]

24. Yes, I just read that the water is supposed to...

...breach the Iowa City spillway tonight, if it hasn't all ready gone over. It
was just a few inches from going over...and I read that late this afternoon (Tues).

They are saying that Iowa City is going to be worse than in 1993.

The Cedar Rapids Gazette www.gazetteonline.com has some good information
about that part of the state.

Glad your niece is safe, Kestrel.

[Tashca]

35. I'm in Cedar Rapids.

You are right on what you have typed.
There is a huge surge of water heading our way too....I believe nearly everyone in the area is suppose to hit all time high water marks.
I was sandbagging earlier in a small town just west of town...Palo....they aren't even going to try and save the residential area....just bagging the essential services. Water, sewer, telephone, etc.
I hear Vinton has given up on some of their city too.

I was talking to my neighbor. He has counted 5 families in our neighborhood taking in relatives or friends in the immediate area.....they are evacuees mostly from Palo.
He works for ADM in the haz-mat department. ADM has spread this department out through the small towns to help with coordination. I know they also dispatched a command and control unit to Palo...probably other towns too.

I can't say enough about the people in this area helping each other.....
The crest is to hit here sometime Thursday setting a new record. We are also forecast 1-3 inches of rain with isolated areas of up to 5. We have at least had time to prepare unlike much of northern Iowa.....Wisconsin....Indiana and parts of Illinois.

Last I heard Senator Obama was suppose to be here for an economic summit tomorrow....I hope he has time to visit or at least fly over the affected area.

Good luck Midwesterners!!!

[aquart]

38. You could keep posting back here to let us know you're okay.

Please do that. I just got an email from a friend saying an entire lake is gone but not mentioning where it was. Just that it was a vacation area for Chicago.

Stay safe. Good luck to all in the MidWest.

[SeeHopeWin]

12. this is not good

I hope it is not another Katrina

[Barrett808]

13. Welcome to DU, SeeHopeWin!

:hi:

[melissinha]

18. Most people are safe

But there are incidents of people getting caught off guard and being killed.

I think that it may compare to Katrina in the clean-up effort. I think that these floods when compared to those in 1993 will show the shortcoming of FEMA.

[CatholicEdHead]

15. More storms are coming tonight and tomorrow for those areas

The pattern is stuck, system after system every few days will deluge the area until the pattern shifts.

[intaglio]

16. I was reading about this in the Independent (UK)

They were saying how the media had been largely ignoring the problems and also comparing it to 1993.

Blessings and peace to you all

[elocs]

26. Speaking of SW Wisconsin : this in not New Orleans and this is not Katrina.

Let's not make mountains out of molehills. Last summer we had a 100 year flood and 10 months later there is another one. The ground is saturated and small creeks and rivers do not take a lot of water in a short period of time. There are many people here who live near these creeks and rivers and most of the time it has not been a big problem. Nobody has died here from these storms and one of the problems is that the areas had not fully recovered from the last flooding.

Yes, there is flooding here, but there are not people stranded on their rooftops waiting to be rescued by helicopters. From what I understand FEMA did a decent job working with people from last year so there really is no point in trying to trump this up to be a Katrina-like disaster. I do not think there has been any gross negligence as far as levees go either. What we have is two 100 year floods in 10 month's time with a huge amount of rain. Around here if we get an inch or two of rain from a storm that is usually a lot. When we get 5-10 inches from one series of storms that is disastrous. So no conspiracies, no negligence, just lots and lots of water.

[RainDog]

29. People have died where I am

I only know of three, but they have died, and people have had to be rescued out of cars and out of their homes. 2 nat'l guard helicopters were in the town just north of me helping to evacuate ppl from their homes. I'm in Bloomington, IN, btw.

ppl whose entire investment is a home have lost everything.

at least 4 counties here haved been declared disaster areas. no, it's not Katrina, but believe me, there is plenty of misery from these flash floods.

in addition to the flash floods, there have been at least three tornadoes in the last week within 30 miles of me. some people still do not have electricity north of me, after nearly a week.

I don't think there is any conspiracy, but please do not lecture people when we see the images of massive displacement and know that agencies in the surrounding counties.. east, west and north of me, all have emergency shelters set up for people who have no place to go anymore b/c their homes were destroyed.

[elocs]

30. I did start my post with "Speaking of SW Wisconsin". I am talking about here, nowhere else.

I start to see people assuming that this might be like Katrina, when it is not, and that people were not being taken care of by FEMA when they were after the flood last summer. There is the inference that somebody is to "blame" when the blame is simple: it rained and rained and rained and rained and the ground was saturated and could not handle it. The result here in SW Wisconsin was flooding where people's houses were flooded, but there was no loss of life. People were not clinging to their roofs or drowned by rising waters. Sometimes shit happens and it is nobody's fault. Again, here in SW Wisconsin it it not like New Orleans, it is not like Katrina, but it certainly is the result of two 100 year floods 10 months apart.

[CRF450]

34. Agreed

After all, we have no control over weather, and because natural disasters to this scale RARELY ever happen, we're not fully prepared for what can possibly happen in different regions. Sometimes all ya can do is take the hit and learn from it and be better prepared for the next time.

[elocs]

37. Around here people are used to some flooding, but not FLOODING.

After typing my subject I took a few moments to walk a block west from where I live to have a look at the Black River which is maybe a couple of hundred yards wide here. At the end of my street the river would have to rise at least another 10 to 12 feet and it would take an incredibly huge flood to do that. The problem here is not with the bigger rivers, but with the creeks and smaller rivers that run through the communities in the bluffs and coulees that simply cannot handle getting 5-10 inches of rain in a short period. Aside from when this happened last summer it is very rare here. Usually a good storm here is just an inch of rain.

[Carnea]

33. Rational calming and commonsense reaction

Good luck with the flooding.

:hug:

[eowyn_of_rohan]

31. As a Wisconsin girl, this hurts

Lake Delton - lifetime of memories, can't believe it is gone
Gays Mills - so naturally beautiful, like a Grant Wood painting, like Hobbit town, they don't know if it will survive this

Sometimes it is too much too fast in life...

[eowyn_of_rohan]

32. Lake Delton Officials DIDN'T RENEW FEMA FLOOD INSURANCE!

from WISC - TV (MAdison, WI)
Owners of the five homes that were lost in the Lake Delton disaster Monday are dealing with the shock of the loss -- both emotional and financial.

"It's devastating. We watched (the house) wash away. We were here when it cracked in half," said Tina Pekar, who lost her home in Monday's flooding.

WISC-TV has learned that the homes that were swept away or destroyed Monday would have been fully covered by the NFIP. But the homes aren't covered because the Village of Lake Delton had pulled the plug on its floodplain designation by the Federal Emergency Management Agency seven years ago.

The director of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources' Bureau of Water Management said that the village had been a participating member in the NFIP since 1975, but failed to formally adopt a new floodplain the Federal Emergency Management Agency map in 2001. So the village had its eligibility canceled.

Village Board president Frank Kaminski refused to answer any questions, and said WISC-TV should talk to the police chief.

Police Chief Thomas Dorner and the city engineer said the village had a problem with the FEMA's expansion of Lake Delton's flood zone, which can make building much more costly.

WHICH CAN MAKE BUILDING MORE COSTLY, HUH??? DAMN those developers.
http://www.channel3000.com/news/16560561/detail.html

[skooooo]

36. Don't worry, the National Guard...

...is in Iraq. :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke:

[AwakeAtLast]

43. Some of my husband's unit were taken from Camp Atterbury to help out in So. IN

They are using some of the 2,000 Marines that are supposed to be doing the urban warfare training in Indy.

I'm glad they were able to help in some way!

[skooooo]

46. thanks...

I hope it helps too. What a state this country is in.

:(

[windoe]

45. Natural disasters seem to be on the upswing

fires, floods, tornadoes. Yes, we need a FEMA that works, and our National Guard home where they belong!

[skooooo]

47. the infrastructure is starting to fail too...

...And that makes everything much worse than it would have to be.