Iowa flood evacuations rise
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (Reuters) - Overflowing rivers in Iowaand other Midwest states forced evacuations and disrupted theregion's economy on Friday with fears of worse to come fromfragile levees and more rain.
A Cedar Rapids hospital was flooded and evacuated itspatients after a levee break on the Cedar River turned thedowntown area into a shallow lake. Thousands were forced toleave their homes in the worst Midwest flooding in 15 years.
"I don't know how much damage is done," said LatrinaWalker, huddled at a shelter with her four children. "I'm justreally scared right now."
Floodwaters inundated about 100 city blocks of CedarRapids, Iowa's second-largest city with 200,000 residents.Rescuers in boats picked up people who were stranded or had hadignored warnings to leave.
Officials in Des Moines city urged residents living nearthe rising Des Moines River to evacuate.
"We think that the levels are going to be at or very closeto levee height," Mayor Frank Cownie said. "We're working likecrazy to protect our property."
Iowa Gov. Chet Culver said the damage to his state couldcost billions of dollars. Scores of bridges spanning nineoverflowing rivers have been swept away or weakened.
"I have real concerns about our agricultural sector. I havetoured the state and seen the devastation to our crops," Culversaid.
Iowa is usually the top U.S. corn and soybeans growingstate and is a major producer of hogs and cattle.
Crop losses could spur price rises for everything from foodto fuels, like corn-based ethanol, and play into growing fearsof inflation threatening the already battered U.S. economy.
The flooding led authorities to close the upper MississippiRiver to barge traffic, and commerce on a 300-mile stretch ofthe most important U.S. waterway may be shut down for weeks.
An epic 1993 Midwest flood swamped several cities in Iowa,Missouri and neighboring states, killing 48 people and caused$21 billion in losses.
Along with torrential rains, the Midwest has been struck byseveral tornadoes, adding to the highest U.S. death toll fromtwisters in a decade. A tornado on Wednesday killed fourteenage boys at a scout camp in western Iowa.
OTHER STATES SWAMPED
Flooding has also swamped parts of Minnesota, Illinois,Wisconsin, Missouri, Kansas and Indiana. Officials in Indianahave reported three flood-related deaths.
Three deaths have been reported in Iowa.
"We've been in a flood fight pretty consistently for 10days now," said Bret Voorhees, a spokesperson for Iowa HomelandSecurity and Emergency Management.
National Guard troops and prisoners have joined residentsin Iowa to pile up millions of sandbags to raise or buttressweakened levees.
The Cedar River's anticipated crest was at least a dozenfeet higher than the level reached in 1993 and had broken a157-year-old record.
Power outages affected 27,000 Iowa homes and businesses,with several grain and meat processing plants shut down.
The Mississippi was expected to crest in St. Louis in eightdays at a level below the peak seen in the 1993 flood, whichprompted buy-outs of many riverfront properties and theconstruction of higher levees and more secure flood walls.
Scores of highways across the region were closed byflooding, turning short trips into lengthy detours.
Farmers across the region hoped for a break in the paradeof storms that have swamped thousands of acres of plantedfields or prevented them from planting anything.
Corn rose to record highs for the seventh session in a rowat the Chicago Board of Trade, and soybean meal prices soaredto a 35-year high on concerns of processing plant shutdowns.
In Wisconsin, overnight storms caused rivers to risefurther, forcing evacuations and rescues -- some by World WarTwo-era amphibious vehicles, called "Ducks," that were divertedto rescue work from carrying tourists.
(Reporting by Kay Henderson in Des Moines, Carey Gillam inKansas City, Lisa Shumaker, Chris Stebbins and Sam Nelson inChicago; Writing by Andrew Stern; Editing by David storey)