Southwest Iowa flooding

[mkadl]

Nothing on Cyclone Fanatic that I have found about this. There are whole towns that were under water at one time the water levels were 12' deep on homes that were built above the known flood plain. I you are the kind of person who likes to help out in these situations just pick a town along I 29 south of Council Bluffs google it and with very little research will get you linked up to a place you can donate. Glenwood, Percival, Bartlett, Hamburg, Pacific Junction and others. Sparsely populated, but if you couldnt farm your ground for a year, what would you do? I have a friend who lost everything. Grain bin sites that have never seen flood waters were ruined. Fields several feet deep in sand. It is hard to imagine. If someone has a link they want to share for contributions go ahead and post here. I just dont want to show any favoritism to any organization or town.

 

[TitanClone]

I'm from Council Bluffs but live in Kansas City now. Went back last weekend for the first time since the floods and it's crazy to see how high some of the creeks were. I-29 is still closed for about 100 miles from about 5 miles north of St Joseph, MO to 15 miles south of Council Bluffs. Don't forget about the Nebraska side, some areas just northwest of Omaha were hit really hard.

 

[casey1973]

We have volunteers from our church headed to Hamburg right now to help with clean up. Horrible situation.

 

[heitclone]

I live in Mills county, it's pretty crazy what has happened here. Lived in the area for nearly 40 years and there is water places I never imagined. Places 5 or 6 miles from the river were under 10+ feet of water. Some of the infrastructure will take years to fix. Glenwood just had its water restriction and boil lifted, went weeks without water after their plant was flooded. 1-29 from Omaha to KC won't be open for years, dozens of bridges and overpasses that will need to be replaced. There is debris everywhere, some areas look like a war zone. To call it a historic flood doesn't do it justice. There will be towns that dont recover, its a sad deal.

The one positive out of this is just how much its brought people together, I've seen people who have lost everything only be concerned with helping their neighbors save what little they could. Lots of people from out of the area have done great things as well, the compassion shown has been overwhelming.

 

[Dr.bannedman]

it certainly stinks but then agian it is a flood plain.

it might not have been this bad since the white man built cities in the area but sometime within 10k years it was flooded quite often.

much like new orleans the water will always win.

cities/people have always moved due to natural disastors

 

[deadeyededric]

it certainly stinks but then agian it is a flood plain.

it might not have been this bad since the white man built cities in the area but sometime within 10k years it was flooded quite often.

much like new orleans the water will always win.

cities/people have always moved due to natural disastors

I think a big issue with the towns in that region is that the economy is based on the farm land around them. You really can't just pack up and start a farming community somewhere else. I could be totally wrong though.

 

[Dr.bannedman]

I think a big issue with the towns in that region is that the economy is based on the farm land around them. You really can't just pack up and start a farming community somewhere else. I could be totally wrong though.

farms are dying everywhere.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/11/cen...-continued-decline-in-number-of-us-farms.html

 

[heitclone]

I think a big issue with the towns in that region is that the economy is based on the farm land around them. You really can't just pack up and start a farming community somewhere else. I could be totally wrong though.

Another issue is, it's not exactly the most affluent part of the state. Many can't afford to just move, they may have lived in the those areas because its what they can afford. I know a lot of young families buy their first homes in those small towns because its more affordable.

 

[jsb]

it certainly stinks but then agian it is a flood plain.

it might not have been this bad since the white man built cities in the area but sometime within 10k years it was flooded quite often.

much like new orleans the water will always win.

cities/people have always moved due to natural disastors

When these cities were built they needed to be near water.

 

[heitclone]

it certainly stinks but then agian it is a flood plain.

it might not have been this bad since the white man built cities in the area but sometime within 10k years it was flooded quite often.

much like new orleans the water will always win.

cities/people have always moved due to natural disastors

Man let the water win in this case, a change in philosophy with the way the river was controlled is what caused this and the 2011 flood. A focus on recreation and wildlife conservation over flood control is a big reason, I'm not arguing if thats right or wrong, its just the reality. Had that been the philosphy of the Army Corp of Engineers from the time the dams were built in SD, these towns would likely have been gone a long time ago, at the very least there would have been no new development.

 

[deadeyededric]

farms are dying everywhere.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/11/cen...-continued-decline-in-number-of-us-farms.html

No doubt. I would support the Fed buying these people out like they do environmental disaster towns.

 

[runbikeswim]

Interesting read about the affects of climate change and man made changes to the landscape affecting flooding. https://grist.org/article/terrifying-map-shows-all-the-parts-of-america-that-might-soon-flood/

 

[stateofmind]

I really have had my head in the sand lately and don't watch any news, of course I've heard about the flooding, but hadn't seen anything. But the signs showing I-29 detours over here in Central Iowa got me curious so I went and looked up some info and was shocked at the issues that they are having West of here. This is a good link to see the damage: https://www.floods2019.iowa.gov/images.aspx

So sad to see so many that will be displaced. I live on 4-mile creek here in Ankeny and the 500 year flood plan had the creek just barely touching a corner of my house. On June 30th it covered the whole length of my walkout ranch. Luckily my wife and I controlled the damage to just a few feet of carpet pad and drying out of the walls. But now she gets nervous everytime they call for rain. I'm guessing since we are so far North that it would take a 10" rain in 3 hours for it to do that again. But water damage is the worst. Prayers for all that are affected.

 

[Cyientist]

I know easements can get people worked up, but I like this approach. Frequency of flooding is hard to face, but eventually it's pointless to keep investing in it over and over again. Especially when those funds can be used to lessen future disasters instead of needing to pay for past ones.

https://kwwl.com/news/2019/09/05/iowa-awarded-36m-for-conservation-easements-on-flooded-land/