Floods swamp Iowa town; Drinking water near gone

[babylonsister]

Floods swamp Iowa town; Drinking water near gone

By AMY LORENTZEN – 1 hour ago


CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Hospital patients in wheelchairs and on stretchers were evacuated in the middle of the night as the biggest flood Cedar Rapids has ever seen swamped more than 400 blocks Friday and all but cut off the supply of clean drinking water in the city of 120,000.

As many as 10,000 townspeople driven from their homes by the rain-swollen Cedar River took shelter at schools and hotels or moved in with relatives.

About 100 miles to the west, officials in Iowa's biggest city, Des Moines, urged people in low-lying areas to clear out by Friday evening. The Des Moines River was expected to crest at 8 p.m., but officials said just before the expected peak that a malfunctioning gauge may have led them to overestimate how high it would rise.

Officials became less worried that the levees would be topped, but U.S. Army Corps of Engineers spokesman Roger Less said the city of 190,000 residents would not be out of danger until Saturday.

The flooding was blamed for at least two deaths in Iowa: a driver was killed in an accident on a road under water, and a farmer who went out to check his property was swept away.

more...

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hw95ek5Sllmi4SoQ_N4HJvwHE0ZAD919HV300

[blue sky at night]

1. looks like a good time....

for a vacation at the ranch...or a trip to europe, or maybe I can learn the guitar!

[PassingFair]

2. I'll bring the cake!

[babylonsister]

4. We should be able to call in the National Guar...oops. nt

[mdmc]

7. yup

[nam78_two]

3. Good grief-K&R.nt

[Snarkoleptic]

5. In the early 90's, I worked for an insurance company and was dispatched to the quad cities.

Davenport, Bettendorf, Rock Island, Moline...
The Mississippi was 6 blocks up the (rather steep) street on the Iowa side.
I was struck at the sight of the semi-pro baseball field, which was under 10-12 feet of water.
This flood is waaaay worse than the flood that I witnessed, which was described as a '100-year flood'.

[nadinbrzezinski]

6. Oh wait, news has been cancelled

:sarcasm:

It breaks my haert to hear this and to see that what once worked in disasters is all but active