Scramble to save Iowa town as floodwaters approach
This year's flooding is putting levees to the test along much of the 1,700 miles of the Missouri River.
June 14th, 2011
09:56 AM ET

Scramble to save Iowa town as floodwaters approach

Authorities were scrambling Tuesday to protect the town of Hamburg, Iowa, after a swollen Missouri River broke two levees near the Missouri-Iowa border.

Fifty Army National Guard troops arrived in Hamburg Monday night to join efforts to finish a temporary levee before water from the levee breaches can reach the town - expected to happen sometime Tuesday, according to CNN affiliate KMTV. Crews are working to add another three feet to the top of the temporary levee, KMTV said. If the temporary levee does not hold, parts of Hamburg could be inundated with up to 10 feet of water.

The Iowa Department of Transportation closed one lane of northbound Interstate 29 for a half-mile while the work was underway, it said Monday. Floodwaters are expected to inundate the roadway within 48 hours, it said.

The current levees protecting Hamburg were designed to an elevation of 916 feet, the Corps of Engineers said in a statement Monday. "Based on the current size, new staff gauges and the model calibrated to new survey data, a new water surface elevation of 918 feet has been estimated," according to the Corps.

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Filed under: Iowa
soundoff (5 Responses)
  1. KangasChan

    nobody cares...next

    June 14, 2011 at 2:28 pm | Report abuse |
    • Mmmmm

      LOL, And ya never do til the sh!t rolls downhill...in your backyard.

      June 15, 2011 at 1:22 am | Report abuse |
  2. epona30

    You know what else the Missouri river is flooding? Nebraska Nuclear Plant, it is flooded and they are having issues but for some reason there has been a blackout of this information

    "According to this report, the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Plant suffered a “catastrophic loss of cooling” to one of its idle spent fuel rod pools on 7 June after this plant was deluged with water caused by the historic flooding of the Missouri River which resulted in a fire causing the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) to issue a “no-fly ban” over the area.".

    June 19, 2011 at 1:38 am | Report abuse |
    • Nate

      The Ft.Calhoun plant received a notation called a yellow flag by the NRC in October 2010 specifically calling it out for being venerable in a flood.

      June 20, 2011 at 5:41 pm | Report abuse |
  3. Nate

    2 nuclear plants in Nebraska along the flooding Missouri River, Cooper Plant and Ft.Calhoun are now on emergency level "Unusual Event", the first of 4 emergency levels put out by the NRC. Unusual Events " are in process or have occurred which indicate a potential degradation of the level of safety of the plant. No releases of radioactive material .... unless further degradation of safety systems occurs." (wikipedia http://bit.ly/jHzn8W)
    This is troubling because Ft Calhoun got hit with a yellow flag by the NRC for not being prepared for a flood in October. http://bit.ly/irYrfI Also,from the same article:
    "in March of this year the NRC identified Fort Calhoun as one of three nuclear plants requiring the agency's highest level of oversight"
    Adding to the potential crisis point:flooding is"expected to last at least three months from June through August as a result of Corps of Engineers attempts to regulate the release of water through 850 miles of open river from Gavins Point Dam in South Dakota to the confluence with the Mississippi River at St. Louis" & also "they are unsure whether the levees can sustain being water logged in a long-term flood"(Wikipedia on Missouri River floods http://bit.ly/jESvEX)

    June 20, 2011 at 5:39 pm | Report abuse |
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