Iowa Hit by Worst Flooding in 15 Years

By Diane Smith
13:49, June 13th 2008
83 votes
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Heavy rains and powerful storms hit the state of Iowa paralyzing large sections in the east. Iowa is struggling to resist the worst flooding which hit the state in the past 15 years and is trying to cope with the situation while its residents are still mourning the tragic deaths of the four Boy Scouts killed by a tornado Wednesday night at the Little Sioux Scout Ranch.

The state has been hit by one disaster after another as the weather kept worsening for six days in a row and it doesn’t seem that it will stop very soon.

Since the May 25 tornado which killed seven people in northeastern Parkersburg, the storm system which struck Iowa pushed the death toll to 14 in three weeks.

"We are working around the clock with all of the county emergency management operations," Iowa Gov. Chet Culver told CNN Thursday.

The Governor added Muscatine County to an emergency disaster proclamation as 99 counties are currently under the designation.

Authorities were forced to evacuate residents of Cedar Rapids on Thursday and thousands of people fled the area as waters keep rising. Approximately 176 patients were evacuated from Mercy Medical Center, a hospital in Cedar Rapids, said the hospital president Tim Charles who described the floods as “a disaster of unpredictable and potentially catastrophic proportions.”

More than 35 state and federal highways, including a section of I-80 east of Iowa City, were closed or blocked by the flooding according to the Iowa Department of Transportation. Authorities are currently working to provide food, water and shelter to the evacuees.

"It's certainly been a real blow. Despite the setbacks and challenges at hand we will get stronger as a state," Gov. Culver said.

The tornadoes also hit Kansas where two people were killed by the devastating winds. The Kansas State University campus was also badly hit. Authorities estimated that the damage made by the storm is worth more than $20 million.



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