Levees break as Midwest floods worsen

MSNBC.com ^ | June 10, 2008

[Free Vulcan]

Just talked to my sister in Waverly IA, in the NE part of the state. It's absolutely sh** nasty up there, most bridges are closed, levees and dams breaking, downtowns evacuated, structures with water past the second floor. My sister is one of the lucky ones, they've evacuated but think the water won't go past the basement.

Here's the DM Red Star's live blog if you want to follow:

[swain_forkbeard]

Please see my reply to #17. Actually, I know a bit about NOLA and not much about the currently stricken areas. Peace brother.

[IamConservative]

I thought N.O. was the only place with levees. I thought the rest of the country built dams.

I know first hand many of the rivers in south and central Indiana have man made levees on both side that run for miles. I spent many an hour in my youth mowing then in the summer. Generally speaking, they work very well. Under extreme flooding, they will hold back water until they breach and then you get enormous flash floods. The breaches normally are "blow outs" cause by the hydraulic pressures of the flood water. Varmints holes can sometimes play a role as well. It is not unheard of for people to blow them with dynamite downstream in a desperate bid to save their own crops or homes.

[Just another Joe]

I thought N.O. was the only place with levees. I thought the rest of the country built dams.

Nope, lots of levees along the Missouri and Mississippi rivers.

Dams hold water back forming a lake, levees attempt to hold water within the course of a river.

[xjcsa]

Not sure if you’re being sarcastic or not, but here in Iowa, some of the rivers are expected to crest two feet higher than anyone has ever seen them.

The Cedar River in Cedar Falls is expected to crest *7* feet higher than the previous record. The old record was 96.1, and it's expected to hit 103 tonight (current level is over 101). Flood stage is 88 feet, so that's *15 feet* above flood stage.

In Waterloo the record is about 22 feet; the expected crest is 26 feet, and flood stage is 12 feet, putting the crest at 14 feet above flood stage. Lots and lots of water.

[Romulus]

My apologies. Sometimes it’s hard to detect good irony on the internet.

As you can tell, it’s a sore subject for me.

Peace to you too.

[JenB]

I had no idea the Cedar was that deep up in Cedar Falls. I’m not native to Iowa. These floods are something else though.

[Gumdrop]

I did not realize it was Lake Delton which was emptied by the levee breaks of the Wisconsin River. It’s a shame, as that man-made lake is a treasure for tourists to the Wisconsin Dells. It’s where the nightly water show takes place. This will have a major economic impact on Wisconsin.

[codercpc]

Bush's fault.

I am going to have to take the blame on this one, it's not Bush's fault (this time).

We had my son's high school graduation party at a park on Saturday, and all week long I studied the weather praying that even if we got a little rain, just keep the storms away. Well my prayers were answered, unfortunately for others in my wonderful state, all the storms stayed to the south of us. Although Mid Wisconsin (my area) got a few quick downpours, we never got the violent weather that had been predicted.

So to the rest of the State , I AM SORRY!!!!

Kidding aside, my prayers go out to all of them (although my prayers did get me in trouble last time).

[Fester Chugabrew]

There it is: the source of the whole affair. I.O.O.F. (International Organization for Outdoor Flooding)

[NEMDF]

TO ANYONE: does anyone know the status of the Mississippi south of St. Louis, by Chester,IL lately? Flooding or ok?

[Mila]

I feel so bad for all those poor people. On the news I heard several of them say that they didn’t have flood insurance because they didn’t live in a flood plain. The man whose house we see over and over again on the news breaking in two and falling into the lake, said that his insurance agent told him he didn’t need it.

[TASMANIANRED]

Gonna contribute to higher food prices.

Prayers for those in harms way.

[xjcsa]

The Cedar Falls flood gauge doesn’t reflect actual depth, but I’m not sure what it’s based on.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Here’s a slide show of the damage. It’s still incomprehensible to many of us.

http://www.jsonline.com/site/photographerphotos/SlideShow.aspx?catid=1263&N=0&photoid=23089

[gleeaikin]

At Iowa City (Univ. of Iowa) the previous record for the Iowa River was 28 ft. in the “500 year flood” of 1993. It is moving toward 30 ft, and is expected to hit 33 ft. before it starts to fall. Good links put out by the U of Iowa, follow: http://uiflood.blogspot.com/
http://imuflood.wordpress.com/
http://us.f500.mail.yahoo.com/ym/ShowLetter?MsgId=7327_2387802_130564_2034_2972_0_1146_10234_3950921436&Idx=2&YY=1507&y5beta=yes&y5beta=yes&inc=100&order=down&sort=date&pos=0&view=a&head=b&box=Inbox

The last link has several additional links. I think the one on Iowa River Conditions is actually a link to a general flood information site. NEMDF may be able to find information on the St. Louis flood conditions here, or on one of the other sublinks. I know there is a place where you could bring up info on various flood basins in several different state. Hope this helps.

[Freedom4US]

I wondered about that too. Cedar Falls uses the courthouse steps as some sort of baseline elev. figure while Waterloo does not.

[xjcsa]

Cedar Falls uses the courthouse steps as some sort of baseline elev. figure while Waterloo does not.

On the news last night they said the Cedar Falls number is simply elevation above sea level, minus 700. So 102 feet on the gauge is 802 feet above sea level, and the flood stage of 88 feet is 788 feet above sea level.

[supercat]

Lake Koshkonong in Wisconsin is well above previous record levels. It may well rise above floodplain level. I'd never seen anything like it myself, though I'm sure other people have seen such flooding elsewhere.

Graph. (if that doesn't work, try here.