Davenport, Iowa Nervously Awaiting Major Flooding
March 28, 2011
Volunteers in Davenport, Iowa are rushing to protect their city by filling and putting into place thousands of sandbags. The residents of one neighborhood in particular are being warned to be ready to evacuate their homes as the city is preparing for a flood that may go down in the books as an historic one.
Davenport, a city of 100,000 is located in eastern Iowa. The Mississippi River water levels are rising and could very well surpass the nearly 23 foot record cresting that occurred in 1993. That flooding forced the closing of streets and businesses in the city for weeks and forced hundreds of residents out of their homes. Davenport is the largest city on the upper Mississippi River that does not have a flood wall, due in part because city officials and residents felt that they could not afford to build one.
Davenport’s flood plan covers crests of 24 feet. But the National Weather Service says that there is a 50-50 chance that recording flooding could cause the water to exceed 26 feet. Never before in recorded history has the city had the potential of having flood levels rise to 25 or 26 feet, so city officials are unsure of how bad the situation could potentially be.
Tens of thousands of sandbags were filled over the weekend as residents and volunteers are striving to have more than 100,000 sandbags ready. The signature Modern Woodman Park which is a minor league baseball team’s home field is being readied as well as a large group of hard working people are constructing temporary walls in the front of the stadium. If the field should flood, the home games that begin soon will be re-located to other locations if the need arises.
The neighborhood of Garden Addition, home to 300 single family homes, have received the worst of the flooding in years’ past. City workers are filling low areas in the neighborhood with the hopes that the residents there will not have to evacuate their homes for weeks as they did back in the big flood of 1993.
Davenport city workers are not being allowed to schedule vacations from between now and the end of May because everyone will be needed to help clean up potential flood damage. Meetings will be held this week to inform residents and business owners about how to prepare for the potential disastrous flooding.
Jarvis Property Restoration has a local office in the Quad Cities area and is ready to provide immediate flood cleanup assistance to Davenport, Moline and Rock Island Residents.
East Coast Flood Concerns Expected to Last for Days
March 11, 2011
Many days of heavy rainfall has led to significant flooding on the east coast of the US. People from Pennsylvania to New York have been watching rivers and streams rise and are prepared for the worst case scenario. People are filling up sandbags as more rain is on its way to the area. Several inches of rainfall is expected to trigger flooding up and down the already water-soaked eastern seaboard.
Melting snow is not helping the situation. The hard hitting winter storms that affected the east coast stored a lot of water in the form of snow on the ground which causes rivers to rise significantly. The next storm only needs to drop a little rain to turn the risk for severe flooding into a harsh reality.
In New Jersey, flooding is not expected to subside any time soon even though it has stopped raining there at least for now. The ground is overly saturated and the water continues to push rivers and streams to the brink of flooding, especially in the northern part of the state. Morris County New Jersey received five inches of rain on Thursday which caused heavy flooding.
The National Weather Service has issued flood watches for New York and for several counties in New Jersey. The Passaic river in New Jersey is expected to overflow its banks this weekend. Residents living near the river’s edge are being advised to keep an eye on local weather reports and to be ready to evacuate if told to do so. People are also being reminded to come up with emergency plans for their families so that everyone knows where to meet if an evacuation is ordered.
New Jersey governor Chris Christie declared a state of emergency in his state on Wednesday night which will lead the way for the National Guard to move in to lend a hand. By Saturday afternoon, two to four inches of new rain could hit the state as a new storm front is bearing down on the eastern portion of the United States.
People on the east coast awoke this morning to storm warnings being issued on radio and tv. This time of year is a good time to remind people to take out flood insurance on their homes. There is a 30 day grace period before newly purchased flood insurance takes effect, so it is too late for those who are considering getting coverage for this particular storm. However, it is never too late to prepare for future flooding. Anyone living in a flood risk zone should definitely consider buying some insurance as it is cheaper than most cleanup costs.
