Water still rising as damage tops $1.5 billion

updated 9:24 p.m. ET June 17, 2008

OAKVILLE, Iowa - As the rising Mississippi River on Tuesday flooded thousands of acres of Iowa farmland, preliminary estimates put the damage at more than $1.5 billion, a figure that is expected to rise as the high water moves downstream.

Still, officials said the cost would have been even higher if the federal government had not purchased low-lying land after the 1993 deluge, which caused $12 billion in damage.

Since then, the government bought out more than 9,000 homeowners, turning much of the land into parks and undeveloped areas that can be allowed to flood with less risk. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has moved or flood-proofed about 30,000 properties.

The effort required whole communities to be moved, such as Rhineland, Mo., and Valmeyer, Ill.

In Iowa, FEMA spent $1.6 million to buy out residents of Elkport, population 80, and then knock down the village's remaining buildings. Some residents moved to Garber, Elkport's twin city across the Turkey River, but others abandoned the area.

“There's nothing there in Elkport anymore,” said Helen Jennings of Garber. “They built new houses in different places.”

Some of those who stayed are paying a price.

The federal government bought about a quarter of the homes in Chelsea, Iowa, after the 1993 floods, but most of the 300 residents stayed. At least 10 homes are now inundated by the Iowa River to their first floors.

Residents take it in stride, said Mayor Roger Ochs.

“For the most part, it’s another flood,” he said. “For Chelsea, it’s more of an inconvenience.”

Levee break threatens town
But inconvenience turned to frustration is some parts of Illinois Tuesday after one levee failed. Another 27 levees are in danger of overflowing, according to the federal government.

Interactive map Rampaging rivers Rivers in many parts of the upper Midwest have overrun their banks in recent weeks. Click to see latest developments as well as current and historical flooding data.

The river blew a massive hole in a levee near the farming community of Gulf Port at about 5 a.m., covering at least 5,000 acres of farmland by late Tuesday morning, Henderson County Chief Deputy Donald Seitz said.

“The whole town will be under water,” Seitz said, calling the levee break “very devastating” for the small agricultural community, near the Illinois-Iowa line. More than 10,000 acres could eventually flood, he said.

The break forced the closure of the Great River Bridge that connects Gulf Port to Burlington, Iowa, via U.S. Highway 34. Two people who were working on the levee were rescued by boat, said Henderson County Sheriff Mark Lumbeck.

Three other people were lifted by helicopter from a rooftop, and seven others climbed onto a 4-wheeler and sped down a railroad track as the levee gave way, Lumbeck said.

The town of about 200 remains dry but was evacuated because of concerns about a second levee to the north where seepage was discovered, Lumbeck said. Two residents in the town refused to leave and stayed behind, the sheriff said.

The Illinois governor’s office originally reported more than a dozen people had to be rescued by helicopter. But Patti Thompson, a spokeswoman with the Illinois Emergency Management Agency, later said the number could not be confirmed and to rely on local officials’ accounts.

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