Residents of the flood-ravaged US midwestern state of Iowa were to start cleaning up yesterday, but officials warned it could be two weeks before river levels returned to normal.
“While this is a trying time for our state, every Iowan should know this: Together, we will rebuild,” Governor Chet Culver said.
“The waters will recede. Our citizens will rebuild and return to their homes. And Iowans will meet this challenge with optimism and resilience,” Culver said.
PHOTO: AP
More than 11 million people in nine midwestern states have been affected by the flooding and extreme weather of recent weeks, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said.
Iowa was by far the hardest hit: 83 of its 99 counties have been declared disaster areas and more than 4.8 million sandbags were laid down to try to stem the tide. Damages were estimated to be in the billions of dollars.
The body of a man who apparently tried to swim out to his parents’ house was recovered on Sunday, officials said, bringing the Iowa death toll since extreme weather began on May 25 to 17.
Harsh weather led to five deaths elsewhere in the US Midwest.
Many downriver towns were still bracing for the worst.
“We’ve still got flood crests to go through, all the way through Wednesday morning,” Iowa Department of Emergency Management spokesman John Benson said.
The flooding will likely put further pressure on high global food prices as initial estimates suggest a loss of up to 20 percent of Iowa’s crops. Fields elsewhere in the nation’s corn belt have also been affected.
Barge traffic ground to a halt on the swollen Mississippi river and rail shipments were also hit as flood waters covered and even washed out track and key bridges, officials said.
Residents of hardest-hit Cedar Rapids were allowed back to some homes, but only briefly and under escort.
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