Officials on Friday issued a voluntary evacuation order for much of downtown Des Moines, Iowa, and other areas bordering the Des Moines River.
Officials recommended that downtown residents and businesses evacuate parts of downtown on both sides of the river by 6 p.m. Friday. Included are all areas in Des Moines' 500-year floodplain.
They are having it bad over there. Â I remember the last flood they had dynamite on the dam ready to blow it if it started to break. Â Now they have gates like a loch on a canal in the spillway. Â The opened the gates the other day bringing the first round of flooding.
There are 100 or so blocks of downtown under water. Â The river is more than 10 feet over the high point from the 92 floods. Â in 92 it was considered a 100 yr event, and this is a 500 yr event. Â If you look at the bridge collapse photos looking S there is a industrial plant in the background of the bridge collapse. Â I worked there. Â Yesterday there was around 4 ft of water in parts of the plant. Â Based on the river rise there is probably 10 feet now.
For the record NEBUGEATER does not equal BUGEATER !!!!!!!
Just so you know...it appears the levy system has done what it was supposed to in Des Moines. The river peaked on Friday at 1 PM within the levies...thank goodness!
**At 3:30 AM, a levee in North Des Moines (Birdland neighborhood) broke...and now has water in residential areas near North High School. Â Hopefully the rest of the levees continue to hold up.
Since I know nothing about Des Moines... does this happen regularly? Not saying yearly, but this is a regular occurrence in the city's past?
DesMoins had it rough back in the early 90's, however I am not sure if it was this bad. Â They have also made improvements to the Dam since then.
The Ceder Rapids flood they are calling more than a 500 year flood, since the city is not 500 years old, this probably hasn't happened this bad in its history.
Brad wrote:The Ceder Rapids flood they are calling more than a 500 year flood, since the city is not 500 years old, this probably hasn't happened this bad in its history.
I believe the flood in Cedar Rapids peaked 12 feet higher than the previous flood of record, that's pretty darn substantial!
"Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice; it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved."
Overall damage in DSM should be much less than 1993. Â Several improvements were made that helped. Â Also, the Raccoon River wasn't as bad as it was then. Â Most importantly, the DSM Water Works stayed high and dry this time.
Here are some good photos of the flooding in Cedar Rapids. Â A lot of this hits too close to home. Â In photo #44 the industrial plant in the lower right part of the aerial photo is where I worked for 10 years.
The photos, particularly from Cedar Rapids, remind me of the New Orleans photos from a few years back. Fortunately there was little loss of life in Iowa. And just as New Orleans is rebounding, so to will our friends in Iowa. You can see the spirit in their faces.
Now, can we please get someone to shut off the rain spigot! I live on the TOP of a hill and I could have stocked part of my back yard with fish last evening, hours after our last downpour.
