The Iowa flood of 2008 was a hydrological event involving most of the rivers in eastern Iowa which began June 8 and continued until July 1. Flooding continued on the Upper Mississippi River in the southeastern area of the state for many more days. The phrase "Iowa's Katrina" was often heard."Editorial: Iowa's Katrina? Not if state does its part: Charity helps now, but eventually, state must pay ," Minneapolis Star Tribune, June 16, 2008, Retrieved June 22, 2008
The flooding included (from north to south, east to west), the Upper Iowa River, Turkey, and the Maquoketa Rivers; outside of the Driftless Area, they include the catchments of the Wapsipinicon River and that of the Iowa River, to include the latter's major tributary, the Cedar River (and its significant tributaries); and the Skunk River in its various forks. The Des Moines River had some minor flooding, but floodwalls and levees, for the most part, held fast. The Upper Mississippi River, which receives the outflow from all these rivers, remained at the flood stage.
The flooding of Cedar Rapids and Iowa City were the most significant events. Recovery, in particular for Cedar Rapids, was considered to be a protracted and costly affair. For Iowa City, the level of damage was less than expected, however, the damage to Cedar Rapids was greater than anticipated. In Iowa City, the campus of the University of Iowa was vulnerable and serious flooding occurred.
President George W. Bush landed on Air Force One at the Eastern Iowa Airport on June 20. He toured on foot and by helicopter in the Cedar Rapids and Iowa City region. On the same day, Senator John McCain made a stop in Columbus Junction.John Q, Lynch, "We're going to help you", Cedar Rapids Gazette, June 20, 2008, p.1AAssociated Press, "McCain tours flood-damaged Columbus Junction", Cedar Rapids Gazette, June 20, 2008, p.1B
Origins State Meteorologist Elwynn Taylor of Iowa State University commented that the wet spring of 2008 was traceable to relatively warm and wet air during the winter season. Taylor explained: Fog in the winter is normally the result of a strong flow of warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico, which normally does not occur in the winter," he said. "Usually that occurs in March and April. It's caused by either low pressure over New Mexico or high pressure over Bermuda. Both are common in the summer. Both are rare in the winter. More than 80 percent of moisture that falls in the Midwest is from the Gulf of Mexico, and the primary cause of it coming here is the Bermuda high pressure. The pressure arrived very early and much stronger than usual by April and May this year. And it was the case in 1993."
Taylor was quoted at length in the article, concluding: "[The] Rule of thumb is, if a storm begins in the Texas Panhandle, it will come to Iowa. The conditions that allow a storm to develop there are the conditions that move the storm to Iowa."
The 2007–2008 winter was particularly severe in northeast Iowa, with a heavy snow cover that persisted in many areas until the early spring rains. From the last week in April, the state experienced heavy rain, particularly in the form of thunderstorms, which saturated the soils. It was an extension of the Late-May 2008 tornado outbreak sequence, which, aside from record-setting tornadoes, also brought huge quantities of rain in the form of stalled thunderstorm systems.
Another possible contributing factor was the extensive field tiling (installation of drain tiles) in Iowa. Almost 40% of agricultural fields in Iowa are tiled, which allows water to flow more quickly from fields into waterways, possibly causing water levels to rise faster.
Also, farming closer to creeks and rivers without adequate buffer strips allows the water to move rapidly from the field directly to the surface water.
Effects
While the Great Flood of 1993 was greater in continental terms, in local Iowa terms, the June 2008 Midwest floods were considerably worse. The lessons learned in 1993, however, helped prevent or otherwise mitigate damage, extensive as it was; one example is how the city of Des Moines raised its levee around its domestic water and sewage treatment plants. The extent of flooding in 2008 was probably less than during the Flood of 1851, but it is difficult to compare the impacts of the two floods because of changes in population, economy, and land use. A study performed by Mark Burton at the University of Tennessee and Michael J. Hicks at Ball State University was based on post 1993 flood data. However, the 2008 floods damaged key infrastructure outside of the model (e.g., the University of Iowa library) due both to changes in population and flood protection measures. However, the Burton & Hicks study did identify crop damages at roughly $3 billion, which turned out to be very close to the actual damages.
The flooding led to many homes being evacuated. In eastern Iowa along the Iowa River and Cedar River, flooding exceeded that of the Flood of 1993.
Flooding had also forced the closure of an extensive number of roads throughout the eastern half of the state, a situation that affected far more people than those who directly experienced the floods; in particular, portions of Interstate 80 and I-380 were closed. The closure of bridges in Waterloo, Cedar Rapids and Iowa City disrupted usual traffic patterns, and especially led to extensive detours.
Rail traffic was also seriously affected. The Iowa, Chicago and Eastern Railroad (IC&E Railroad) had a washout between Mason City and Nora Springs. The Cedar Rapids and Iowa City Railway Co. (CRANDIC/CIC) was particularly affected; its bridge in Cedar Rapids was destroyed by the flooding while an embankment downriver near Coralville was also washed out. The Keokuk Junction Railway (KJRY) also reported disruptions. Amtrak service was rerouted, away from Iowa; a number of trains had their passengers put onto buses.
Restoration of Amtrak service Amtrak's California Zephyr service (from Chicago) was suspended in Iowa due to substantial flooding. Because of the widespread flooding in Iowa, no detours were available and passengers were moved by motor coaches during the interim. The affected railways were owned by IC&E and BNSF. Service was projected to resume on July 5, 2008, for the California Zephyr. The two other routes previously closed by flooding resumed service on July 1.
Upper Iowa River
Decorah On Monday, June 9 the Upper Iowa River in Decorah flooded when a shorter college-built levee was breached. The Army Corps of Engineers levee held in all parts of Decorah. 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 described this flooding as the worst to occur in Decorah since the current levee system was put in place in the 1940s.Sarah Strandberg, Dike Breach causes flooding at Luther, Retrieved June 16, 2008 Other portions of the city were flooded. Part of the city was evacuated.Parts of Decorah evacuated , KWWL-TV, June 9, 2008, Retrieved June 16, 2008 For a time, worries of losing the sanitary sewer system led to a 'please don't flush' order; as of Friday, June 13, 2008, this order was withdrawn, but pleas for careful use remained in effect. This article also alludes to a difficult cleanup that faced Decorah as well as Winneshiek County.
Dorchester Further downstream on the Upper Iowa, in the small historic unincorporated area of Dorchester, located on the left bank of the Waterloo Creek, 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, 2008
The flood began in the early morning of Sunday, June 8; residents were advised to evacuate that Saturday evening. Approximately of rain fell in the area that Saturday. The main contributor was Waterloo Creek, a normally placid trout stream tributary to the Upper Iowa at Dorchester. The Eitzen, Minnesota Fire Department responded to the flood.Alyce May. "Dorchester residents work to recover from last weekend's flooding", The Standard (Waukon, Iowa), June 18, 2008, p.1 Cleanup and recovery occurred during the aftermath.
Turkey River
Spillville and Fort Atkinson Along the upper Turkey River, the historic towns of Spillville and Fort Atkinson experienced significant flooding as seen with damaged roads."Winneshiek County Flood Information ", KCRG-TV, Retrieved June 16, 2008 In particular, the one-year-old bridge carrying Iowa Highway 24 had its approach on one side of the river washed out by floodwaters."Winneshiek County bridge collapses " KWWL-TV, June 10, 2008, retrieved June 16, 2008
Elkader Further downstream in Elkader, the river crested in the morning on Tuesday, June 10 at nearly , besting the previous record set in 1991. Erik Hogstrom, "", Dubuque Telegraph Herald, June 11, 2008 retrieved June 16, 2008 The river had retreated by Thursday, June 12Katie Wiedemann, "Elkader Slammed By Floods ", KCRG-TV, retrieved June 16, 2008
By June 16, most of the water had been pumped out of buildings. "At least 20 homes were destroyed and nine suffered major damage", said Randy Frank from the Clayton County Emergency Management Office.Courtney Blanchard, "Hope in wake of heartache: Some tri-state communities begin flood cleanup as waters recede and weather improves " Dubuque Telegraph Herald, June 16, 2008, retrieved June 16, 2008
Damages were initially estimated to be in the range of $8 million, of which about $3.7 million in damage to the city's infrastructure; these figures were expected to rise. About 100 people evacuated.Gordon Tustin, "Drying out, cleaning up process begins", The Outlook (Clayton County, Iowa), June 18, 2008, p.1
Maquoketa River In the Maquoketa's upper area, Monticello experienced high water.Beth Malicki, "Monticello Battles the Maquoketa River ", KCRG-TV, June 9, 2008, retrieved June 13, 2008
Manchester Beginning in early May, Manchester endured a series of floods, with a total of of rain over the period. The downtown area was flooded at least four times. Supersaturated soil led to basement flooding.Erik Hogstrom, "Uncharted Waters: Area rivers hit levels never before seen; rescue personnel scramble as cities evacuated " Dubuque Telegraph Herald, June 13, 2008, Retrieved June 20, 2008
Wapsipinicon River
Independence Independence experienced flooding in low-lying areas.
Anamosa A levee breach occurred in Anamosa on Thursday, June 12. While the flooding was not extensive, it nonetheless knocked out the city's sewer treatment facility. The Wapsi crested at , breaking the older record of in 1999.Orlan Love, "Wapsi rages through Jones County", Cedar Rapids Gazette, June 14, 2008, p.1B
The cost of putting the sewer system back to full function was $3 million; initial filtering, however, was expected to come back on line by the second week of August.Orlan Love, "$3 million cost to repair Anamosa wastewater plant", Cedar Rapids Gazette, June 17, 2008, p.2B
Olin and Oxford Junction Oxford Junction managed to protect its water plant as well as the American Legion hall. Upriver, Olin suffered flooding in low-lying areas but the waters receded by June 15.Orlan Love, "Legion saves hall from floodwaters", Cedar Rapids Gazette, June 15, 2008, p.2B
Olin sustained about $80,000 in damage. At least 80 homes sustained damage.
With Oxford Junction, the nearby Cooksville area had about 30 homes evacuated. The city sustained damage to the road leading to the sewer treatment facility.
The two towns were spared greater damages by a levee breach upstream in the Massilon-Toronto region, which flooded up to of farmland, easing what could have been a higher crest.
De Witt