Police shoot hogs to save levees

Police shoot hogs to save levees near Burlington
Police shoot hogs to save levees near Burlington.” This is a recent headline story from the Des Moines Register. Apparently, the hogs are coming from a hog confinement facility that flooded in Oakville, Iowa (the site of some of the most severe flooding in the state). I’m not a fan of hog confinement operations. They stink. The smells emanating from their lagoons are atrocious and the treatment of the hogs inside stinks worse than the hogs themselves. I understand the rationale for killing these animals to save the levee. However, I do not have to like it.

Des Moines County Sheriff’s Department deputies are shooting hogs that are destroying the top of a levee north of town that is protecting thousands of acres of farm ground and dozens of homes.

“We don’t like having to do this, but we don’t have any choice,” said Sheriff Mike Johnstone.

The hogs are being shot as they appear on top of a drainage ditch levee that is holding back several miles of floodwater that poured into the area when an Iowa River levee near Oakville broke Saturday. The water moves south and enters what is known here as the “big ditch” and is carried on an east-west route to the Mississippi River. The threatened levee holds the water in the ditch.

The hogs are from confinement facilities from the flooded Oakville area. Many drowned when the Oakville levee broke, but those that survived have been swept south by the current and are seeking high ground. And the levee is the only nearby ground.

“They’re crawling up the side of the levee and breaking down the plastic and the sandbags on the top,” said Johnstone. “It is destroying the levee. There’s no way to contain the hogs or round them up and there’s no way to get them out of the water.”

The animals are being shot with AR-15 rifles, Johnston said. He said about 15 had been killed as of early afternoon Wednesday. It is unknown how many hogs are in the area, but it is estimated to be in the hundreds “They get on top of the levee and try to jump over a three-foot berm at the top and their hooves are puncturing the plastic and tearing up the bags,” Johnston said. “If that levee breaks it’ll flood from there to Burlington.”

It’s an area about three miles wide and 12 miles long.

Flooding + Road Damage in Iowa

Iowa Floods of 2008 - Birdland Area

The damage caused by flooding to Iowa’s roadways is phenomenal. The road in this video looks like an earthquake occurred. The flood waters went right through the road. This video was shot by some Iowa DOT employees:

This clip from Vinton, Iowa shows how floodwaters sliced right through the roadway…

More flooded Iowa road videos after the jump…
(photograph via the Iowa Floods of 2008 Flickr Group)

Continue reading Flooding + Road Damage in Iowa

Comparing Iowa to New Orleans

I been reading a lot of quotes on the interwebs that are saying that Iowa is handling flooding better than New Orleans dealt with Katrina. A lot of the comments (some are more overt than others) imply that white folks in Iowa (of course these comments completely marginalize Iowans of color) are doing a better job of steadfastly standing up to floodwaters while folks of color in New Orleans were looting and relying on handouts. Is this rhetoric racist? Of course it is. It’s comparing two situations that are logically impossible to compare. A single urban area vs. acres of farmland dotted with small to medium sized towns does not present a landscape that is comparable. The rhetorically racist comparisons of flooded Iowa and Katrina-impacted New Orleans reminds me of this Tim Wise video that illustrates how racism has been used to facilitate division amongst working class white folks and working class folks of color.


via Michael Faris

Columbus Junction – flood recovery

flooding in Columbus Junction Iowa  residents begin to recovery efforts

COLUMBUS JUNCTION — Bottled water has been made available for residents here after officials shut down the city’s water plant Saturday. Waters from the Iowa River breached the levee, submerging part of downtown where the senior center, the medical center, the pharmacy, the water plant and some other businesses were left under at least 12 feet of water.

The National Guard also has trucked-in “Water Buffalos,” which are tanks full of water, and situated them at five key points around town.

City officials said they have ran a 3,000-foot fire hose tapping into Tyson Foods water supply, hooking it up there and running it across the river bridge and into town.

“We’re pumping water from their system directly to recharge our tower,” said city councilman Hal Prior. “We’re on a recovery mode right now.”

Even after the battle against the fury of the Iowa River was lost, Prior said the spirit of the town and its residents remain glued to a common goal — recovery.

via the Burlington Hawk Eye.

It’s great to see that things are improving in Columbus Junction. Just a few days ago, Columbus Junction was inundated with flood waters. City Council member Hal Prior talks about the decision to send national guard personnel from CJ to help out at Oskaloosa, Iowa.

Aerial photos of Iowa flooding

dike fails in Columbus Junction Iowa massive flooding occurs
Here are some aerial photographs of flooding in Iowa from Columbus Junction, Fredonia, Lake Odessa and Muscatine. The images of flooding in Columbus Junction are unbelievable. My mom told me that floodwaters were as high as the pop machines at the Economart in Columbus Junction and that was after some of the flood waters had receded!

Columbus Junction before the levee failed

Columbus Junction Iowa floods after levee fails due to high water levels in the cedar and iowa rivers

More aerial photographs of flooding in Southeast Iowa after the jump…
(Photographs courtesy of D. Stacy Lewis of Stacy-Lewis and Wittich-Lewis Home for Funeral and Cremation Services of Columbus Junction and Muscatine.)

Continue reading Aerial photos of Iowa flooding

Iowa Road Closures

flooding in center point iowa completely erases roadway

From the Iowa Department of Transportation:

Flooding continues to affect many roadways in the state, according to Iowa Department of Transportation (Iowa DOT) officials. Iowans are urged to closely monitor conditions and never enter a water-covered roadway.

Travelers are reminded to avoid flooded areas so emergency vehicles and equipment can be mobilized to the impacted areas. Due to congestion on remaining available roads, Iowans are asked to postpone any unnecessary trips.

Areas where travel is not recommended due to mandatory evacuations:

  • Portions of Iowa City and Cedar Rapids.
  • The entire communities of Fredonia, Columbus Junction, Montour, Oakville, Iowa; and Oquawka, Ill.

Continue reading Iowa Road Closures

Iowa floods

Iowa counties map statistics from 2008 floods

Some numbers from the Iowa floods:

  • Fatalities from flooding: 3
  • Evacuees: Roughly 36,000 Iowans in 11 counties, including 25,000 in Cedar Rapids.
  • Counties declared presidential disaster areas: 18. A total of 83 counties area covered by a disaster declaration by Gov. Chet Culver.
  • Iowa National Guard soldiers deployed: 2,500
  • Sandbags: 4.8 million
  • Gallons of drinking water distributed:180,930
  • Acres of soybeans lost: 2 million
  • Acres of corn lost: 1.3 million
  • Tillable acres of farmland under water: 16 percent of the state’s 25 million acres.

via the Burlington Hawk Eye

Flooding + University of Iowa

Hancher Auditorium at the University of Iowa could flood to the stage level

The flooding at the University of Iowa has been intense. Officials are saying that Hancher Auditorium (the university’s performing arts center) could have water up to the stage! Unbelievable. I remember seeing Othello there when I was in high school.

University of Iowa’s President, Sally Mason, “has been in contact with the presidents of Iowa State University and the University of Illinois, who have offered their assistance. Don Guckert, UI vice president for facilities management, reported that technical and trades personnel from these schools are already en route to Iowa City.” via the UI Flood Blog.

Continue reading Flooding + University of Iowa

Photos + Flooding + Columbus Junction

flooding in Columbus Junction Iowa

The Des Moines Register posted photographs of flooding in Columbus Junction today:

Columbus Junction Iowa flooding photo

flooding photo in Columbus Junction Iowa 2008

Saturday afternoon the water began coming through the levee, which holds up railroad tracks in Columbus Junction. By Sunday morning, the lowest part of the downtown area was inundated, with water as high as nine feet in some buildings, and four to five feet in many others.

Up to half the downtown businesses in Columbus Junction are affected in the town of about 2,000 people.

Residents and volunteers from the surrounding area began working Tuesday to reinforce earthen levees with sand and sandbags, hoping the little town downstream from Cedar Rapids and Iowa City could survive the deluge that hit those bigger cities up north.

“I think we filled close to 100,000 sandbags in four days,” Wilson said. “We had 30 to 40 sand trucks running constantly for four days straight.”

via the Des Moines Register and the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier

Columbus Junction flooding news

columbus junction iowa confluence of cedar and iowa rivers

Alexis Carson, a resident of Southeast Iowa (not sure if Alexis is from CJ…?), left a comment today that gives a lot of insight as to what’s going on right now in Columbus Junction, Columbus City and Conesville. The bottom line is that the gas station and grocery store are now inaccessible to residents in the area.

The levee we built broke on the side closest to Grandview on 92 at about 7:00 last night. Columbus City is now without water and has been since 11:00 yesterday. Columbus [Junction] still has water but we have been advised not to drink it. All of the downtown area from the motel to Economart is now well underwater. All that can be seen of the senior center and bowling alley is their roofs.

The crest isn’t expected until tomorrow at the earliest so we are all just waiting to see what else we will lose. The National Guard has been staying at the elementary and are directing traffic and keeping people away from the water’s edge.

Everyone has pulled together well and we are having a community supper tonight to thank everyone for all their hard work. The Red Cross has a shelter in the Methodist church for those who have no where to stay.

Cabins on the Cedar River in Conesville have been hit hard as well. At least one cabin has floated away so far, and many others are in danger. Everyone has moved out of the cabins and is waiting for the water to go down to return to see what is left.

We all thank you for your concern and prayers.

More information from the State Emergency Operations Center after the jump…

Continue reading Columbus Junction flooding news