Flooding In Iowa

The good old U S Gvt. in its infinite wisdom has done another disservice to we the people. The horrible flooding down the Missouri River in the Midwest from SD, IA, MO and on down the Mississippi is man made...not Mother Nature.

Granted, the original cause was the huge snowfall in MT, WY, N and S Dakota that was 200% of normal. Follow that with a Spring that produced a year's rainfall in 3 weeks about the time that the snow started melting.

All would have went fine IF the States and the government (Army corps of Engineers) would have worked together and figured we better start releasing water from the dams on the Missouri to make room for this water all winter long. BUT each State thinks the next State down river will get more than they get so they all won't turn loose of any because they don't want to deprive their wetlands or recreational areas... So, the environmentalists are alot to blame also for this horrible fiasco and disaster of monumental proportions the likes we haven't seen yet.

No, no one had the foresight to do that so now the SD dam at Gavin's Point is overflowing and bursting at the seams...so they started releasing huge volumes of water and each day they are releasing more thousands of cubic feet until they reach 150,000 Cubic Feet Per Second today. At that point, the water will be here to Iowa probably mid week next week...We are predicted to get from 2-10 feet of water and some predictions say some places will get 20 feet.

Thousands are already evacuated with no where to go and scrambling to grab a rental or just camping out...meanwhile it is 102 degrees here in Iowa. There is already moderate flooding here but much worse coming...electric meters and boxes are pulled by the electric companies. Businesses are shut down with high piles of sand and sand bags around. Gas stations have pulled gas pumps. So not only are people left homeless but many have lost their jobs indefinitely and maybe permanently. Most don't have flood insurance...we all have to continue to pay our mortages until we see what happens which could take 2-6 months or longer according to gvt. predictions.

Oh ya, ... to add insult to injury...flood insurance is thru FEMA...a gvt program. So they knew they were going to release water and flood us weeks ago. They came out with an addendum or exclusion that says they won't pay for your damage if your flood insurance is taken out after water is released from a dam, or a breach in a levee or whatever...(no matter when your house actually floods.)

So...thousands of families in small and large communities alike are sorting thru and taking what they can find room to store somewhere for months...throwing away alot of stuff...etc.

The good I can see that is coming out of it is people are working together filling sand bags, helping one another load belongings, offering to help with lodging or taking animals etc. Before this happened we wouldn't be speaking to one another or know what was going on with our neighbors.