Flood water in Iowa’s second-largest city, Cedar Rapids, has started to recede after forcing 24,000 people to flee, following a series of storms that resulted in 15 deaths last week.
An estimated 9.2 square miles or 1,300 blocks, were flooded in Cedar Rapids, fire department spokesman Dave Koch said. Early estimates put property damage at 736 million dollars, Mr Koch said.
The drenching has also severely damaged the corn crop in Iowa, America’s main corn state, and other parts of the Midwest at a time when corn prices are soaring and food shortages. But officials said it was too soon to put a price tag on the damage.
While the Cedar River ebbed in hard-hit Cedar Rapids, a levee breach in the state capital of Des Moines flooded a neighbourhood of more than 200 homes, a high school and about three dozen businesses.
More than 200 homes were evacuated in Iowa City, home of the University of Iowa, as a flood crest headed down the Iowa River. The Iowa City crest is not expected until tomorrow or early Tuesday.
At least three deaths in Iowa have been attributed to the storms and subsequent flooding, and 12 more have died in two recent tornadoes. The storms have prompted the governor to issue disaster proclamations for 83 of the state’s 99 counties.
Elsewhere, Illinois emergency authorities said a levee along the Mississippi River in far western Illinois burst yesterday morning and voluntary evacuations were under way in Keithsburg, a town of about 700 residents.
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama toured Quincy, Illinois, and helped fill sandbags yesterday.
“Since I’ve been involved in public office we’ve not seen this kind of devastation,” Mr Obama said of the Midwest flooding. He vowed to push the federal and state governments to provide needed aid to the stricken areas.
Parts of southern Wisconsin have been dealing with flooding for days, and President George W Bush declared disasters in five counties there yesterday.
AP