The June 2008 Midwestern United States floods were flooding events which affected portions of the Midwestern United States. After months of heavy precipitation, a number of rivers overflowed their banks for several weeks at a time and broke through levees at numerous locations. Flooding continued into July. States affected by the flooding included Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri and Wisconsin. The American Red Cross assisted the victims of flooding and tornadoes across seven states and the National Guard was mobilized to assist in disaster relief and evacuation.
Flooding continued as long as two weeks with central Iowa and Cedar Rapids being hardest hit. The upper Mississippi Valley experienced flooding in Missouri and Illinois as the region's estuaries drained the floodwater into the river. The flood left thirteen dead and damage region-wide was estimated to be in the tens of billions of dollars.
Illinois
On June 11, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich deemed Clark, Coles, Crawford, Cumberland, Jasper and Lawrence counties as disaster areas. Levee breaks on June 10 flooded portions of Lawrence County near Lawrenceville, inundating a campsite and forcing the evacuations of 200 homes.
On June 14 many communities located along the Mississippi River in West Central Illinois were notified by the National Weather Service that crests along the river would exceed the record crests of 1993.
On the early morning of June 14, the town of Oquawka, Illinois, was evacuated, due to a levee breach along the swollen Iowa River. The city council believed this would affect the flood waters in the already flooding Mississippi River. The same day two levees broke near the town of Keithsburg, Illinois, flooding the entire town.
On the morning of June 15, a levee along the Mississippi River in the town of Gulfport failed, flooding most of the town. Two more levees were breached by flood waters in western Illinois on June 18. The breaches flooded farmland near Meyer and forced an evacuation of the town.
More than $7.2 million in federal disaster assistance grants and loans were approved by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Small Business Administration for Illinois residents who suffered damages and losses.
Indiana
Central and southwestern Indiana was particularly hard hit by flooding along the Ohio River and its tributaries; damages were expected to make the flooding the costliest disaster in the history of the state. Starting on June 4, 2008, rain soaked parts of south-central Indiana, leading to initial floods in and around Bloomington. Additional rain on June 7 brought the worst of the flooding to larger portions of south-central and western Indiana. The highest recorded rainfall was in the town of Edinburgh, which saw of rain in seven hours. Paragon had of rain in just a few hours, leaving 90% of the town underwater.
Some parts of the state had flood levels exceeding records set in 1913. On June 9, President George W. Bush declared 29 counties in central Indiana a major disaster area, enabling the region to receive federal aid and Federal Emergency Management Agency assistance.
Impact Many low-lying areas of central and northern Indiana were evacuated because of the rapid rise of the waters. Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels declared a state of emergency in 23 counties and called in the United States Coast Guard to assist in evacuations and rescues. The Coast Guard responded by sending two helicopters to the state along with boats and personnel. The Indiana National Guard was called out to assist in evacuation and direct traffic and enforce road blocks on the many flooded roads. Some areas of southern Indianapolis, where the White River was several feet past flood stage, were evacuated. This included a hospital with one hundred patients and doctors. The Coast Guard continued to rescue trapped citizens on June 8. In Franklin, Indiana water rose as high as the first floor of Johnson Memorial Hospital. Doctors and patients were also evacuated from Columbus Regional Hospital in Columbus, Indiana. The hospital had to remain closed for an extended period of time because of power outages, generator failures, and extensive flood damage. It was expected to resume operations between September and December 2008, although emergency services began more quickly. All patients were evacuated and moved to nearby hospitals. One hundred and fifty people were evacuated from a nursing home in Morgan County.
The dam at Prince's Lake failed on June 7, threatening the community of Nineveh, Indiana. On June 8 the Wabash Valley between Lafayette and Terre Haute, Indiana, was placed under flood alert; all residents near the Wabash River were urged to evacuate their homes.
Looting was reported in Seymour, Indiana, where the White River had overflowed its banks and forced the evacuation of over one hundred homes. Governor Daniels dispatched extra state police to the city to curb the looting. On June 10, five hundred members of the Indiana National Guard were mobilized to assist Indiana in coping with the flood damage and rescuing stranded citizens. The same day floodwaters rose above record levels in at least five localities. In others the rising waters were near or at the historic 1913 flood levels. The flooding was the worst in Indiana's modern history, according to Scott Morlock, a hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Indiana.
Many roads were closed because of high water, including Interstate 65, which was closed southbound at the interchange with Interstate 465 through Seymour. On June 16 Ball State University released a report estimating that preliminary damages in the state would cost at least $126 million, with $45.8 million in damage to public infrastructure and the rest damage to private businesses and homes. Although damage estimates are likely to be revised upward, the current estimate ranks the flood as the second costliest in Indiana history. Governor Mitch Daniels said the state is compiling its own thorough estimates, with total damages expected to top $1 billion. This would include agricultural costs (of over $800 million) and clean-up efforts not included in the Ball State University Study. The agricultural damages from this flood event varied dramatically since the timing of the flood permitted extensive replanting. The joint Ball State University and University of Tennessee study by Mark Burton and Michael J. Hicks excluded not only agricultural damage in Indiana, but also did not include any large public structures (e.g. hospitals) located in flood plains.
Deaths Two deaths were reported in Columbus. The first was confirmed by the Department of Homeland Security on June 8, and the body of the second was discovered on June 9. A third man drowned in flood waters near Remington in the northwestern part of the state.
Iowa
Severe flooding in Iowa led to evacuations of many homes. In eastern Iowa along the Iowa River and Cedar River, flooding was expected to exceed that of the Flood of 1993. Flooding also forced the closure of a number of roads throughout the state, reaching the point where travel was not advised in some parts of the state.
On Monday, June 9 the Upper Iowa River in Decorah flooded when a levee was breached. Up to of rain had fallen in the 48 hours prior. The water flooded parts of the lower campus of Luther College, damaging athletic fields and the Regents Center. Winneshiek County officials called this the worst flood to occur in Decorah since the current levee system was put in place in the 1940s.Sarah Strandberg, '"Dike Breach causes flooding at Luther ", Decorah Newspapers, retrieved June 13, 2008 Other portions of the city were flooded. For a time, worries of losing the sanitary sewer system led to a 'please don't flush' order; as of Friday, 13 June 2008, this order was withdrawn, but pleas for careful use remain in effect.UPDATE: Latest flood information (Friday 10 a.m.), Decorah Newspapers, retrieved June 13, 2008 Decorah and Winneshiek County now face a difficult cleanup.
Further downstream on the Upper Iowa, in the small historic unincorporated area of Dorchester, severe flooding was experienced. In particular, a trailer court sustained major damage."Mobile homes destroyed in Dorchester", Waukon Standard (Waukon, Iowa), June 11, 2008, p.1 online version , retrieved June 15, 2008M
Along the Mississippi River, flood waters were reaching near-record levels. In Burlington, the Mississippi reached three different crests, before hitting on June 10, the fourth highest stage in the city's history; as of June 15, the expected crest was supposed to be around the mark, which would make it the second worst flood in the city's history, surpassing 1993 by . This caused the Burlington Steamboat Days to cancel and close up three days early, the first such occurrence that the festival has closed more than one day early since its inception in 1962. Severe flooding caused the city to close off an entire section of the riverfront, from Main Street to the riverfront. By the morning of June 15, several streets within the city had been closed off, including the entire length of Front Street; a section of Main Street, between Division Street, and Jefferson Street; a section of Mill Dam Road; Tama Road and all of its side roads; and County Highway 99. U.S. Highway 61, five miles (8 km) south of the city, had been closed on the morning of June 13 due to the rising waters of the Skunk River.
Along the upper Turkey River, the historic towns of Spillville and Fort Atkinson experienced significant flooding, with damaged roads and bridge approaches.Sarah Strandberg, "Heavy rains send Upper Iowa to historic level; Spillville and Fort Atkinson also hit with massive flooding ", Decorah Newspapers, retrieved June 13, 2008 Further downstream, portions of Elkader were under water; the river had retreated by Thursday, June 12."Elkader Completes First Round of Home Inspections ". KCRG-TV, retrieved June 13, 2008
In Cedar Rapids, officials were readying residents and downtown business owners to evacuate as the Cedar River threatened to spill over a levee. The river was expected to top the levee June 11, prompting a mandatory evacuation of downtown. All of the bridges over the Cedar River in downtown Cedar Rapids were closed at 8:00 pm CDT (0100 UTC) on June 11. On June 12, a levee broke, a railroad bridge owned by the Cedar Rapids and Iowa City Railway was swept away along with loaded rail cars (which had been filled with rock in an attempt to keep the bridge in place, or failing that, cause it to sink to the bottom very close to its original location), 100 city blocks were submerged downtown, and 10,000 people were evacuated. In Waterloo, fast-moving water swept away a railroad bridge used to transport tractors from a John Deere factory to Cedar Rapids. It also prompted the city to shut its downtown and close five bridges. The Black Hawk County Emergency Management Agency recommended the evacuation of the Cedar Terrace Neighborhood in Southeast Waterloo on June 10. Because of the severe flooding in east-central Iowa, officials with U.S. Postal Service's Des Moines-based Hawkeye District suspended all Retail, Post Office Box and Mail Caller Services at the Waterloo Main Post Office.
On June 12, a mandatory evacuation was issued for the Normandy Drive area of Iowa City. An evacuation of two streets in Coralville was also issued, with the expectations of completing it by 5:00 pm CDT (2200 UTC) on June 12. One person died in the Iowa flooding. A section of Interstate 80 was closed in Cedar County due to flooding.
The small town of Palo, just upstream from Cedar Rapids, and home of Iowa's only nuclear power plant, underwent a mandatory evacuation. The town remained under water until June 13, 2008."Flood waters isolate Palo" , Gazette Online, retrieved June 13, 2008