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Recent Iowa Flood News – April

Posted on 18. Apr, 2010 by admin in News and Links

Despite benefits, towns reject FEMA flood buyouts: Chelsea’s 297 residents were tempted to move after 2008′s flood but ultimately opted to stay put. Municipal leaders considered a plan to move their town, in the northern part of the state between the Iowa River and Otter Creek, to a nearby hill. But the plan was scrapped when the farmer who owned the land decided not to sell.

Czech and Slovak Museum &amp Library Grand Re-Opening: Now located at 87 16th Avenue SW, in the heart of the Czech Village, the new museum also captures the experience so many along the west bank of the Cedar River felt during those days in June of 2008. The flood damage forced the museum to a temporary display at Lindale Mall in Cedar Rapids before the move back to the Czech Village.

Federal Funds for Czech Museum Not Wasteful, Loebsack Tells Glenn Beck: Iowa Congressman Dave Loebsack is firing back at Glenn Beck after the conservative commentator, in a recent column, referred to federal funds allocated to the National Czech and Slovak Museum in Cedar Rapids as “unbelievable waste.”

Flood director makes plea for social equality in awarding flood protection systems: Cedar Rapids flood recovery director Greg Eyerly made an impassioned plea Thursday for social equality in the awarding of federal flood protection systems. Speaking at the first meeting of the Regional Flood Risk Management Team, which includes federal and state officials from Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Missouri, Eyerly said if the Cedar River flood of 2008 had “happened in Malibu, they would already have a flood-protection system in place.”

Iowa City nets $25M for flood projects: U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke was in Iowa City on Friday to announce $25 million in Economic Development Administration grants to design an elevated Dubuque Street and Park Road Bridge and relocate the North Wastewater Treatment Facility out of the floodplain.

Group honored for flood cleanup work: The Iowa River Cleanup Partnership of Johnson County recently received the IOWATER Watershed Group of the Year award from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

U.S. Commerce Secretary hands out flood recovery money: U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke traveled to Iowa City today to award four Iowa communities with a share of $30 million in grants for flood recovery. Most of the grant money – $25 million – will go to Iowa City to help relocate a wastewater treatment facility damaged by the flood of 2008.

Volunteers needed for cleanup of upper Mississippi River: Living Lands & Waters is seeking approximately 800 to 1,000 volunteers from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois and Missouri to take part in a first-ever, multistate cleanup of the upper Mississippi River. The event will take place Saturday, June 19, with a goal of involving volunteers in 22 cities from Saint Paul, Minn., to St. Louis. LL&W also needs site coordinators for each location, boats and drivers and supplies.

Stop playing politics with people facing real hardship: “It is as if a tornado hit their home or a flood wiped out their community,” says Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa. “It is an emergency, and we respond to emergencies with emergency spending.”