By MARK NEWMAN Courier staff writer
June 17, 2008 11:58 am
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KEOSAUQUA — Preparation and a positive attitude have lent strength to the levees and people of Van Buren County.
“As it stands now, all our levees are holding. There’s a few minor leaks [that] are being handled,” said Jerry Calnon, the emergency management coordinator in Van Buren County. “Drinking water remains usable, the sewers are functioning. So far our protection of critical assets has been successful. I’m not saying we might not have some failures, but at this point everything is holding.”
He credits the people of Van Buren County and assistance from the state for the current success.
“It’s preparation. People have worked very, very hard,” Calnon said. “You’ve got a very positive group of people down here and it’s showing in this.”
He said his Monday morning trip through the communities of Van Buren County showed all “active” sandbagging has been done. Pumps are going to take care of any seepage, and volunteers are on hand in case they need to troubleshoot. There’s a little bit of “patching” going on, but not much.
Some volunteer workers are resting, and some have even gone to their regular jobs, Calnon said. But the real test would be overnight on Monday and then the next few days.
“I understand the crest has gotten past Douds [Monday] morning and is ... working it’s way through the county. We’re hoping to have it through the county by late tonight. Then it’s a matter of maintaining the levees until the water gets down. ”
And in that respect he had some good news.
“The [U.S. Corps of Engineers] has cut the flow from 100,000 [cfs] to 95,000 [cfs], so what’s coming to us is going to be reduced,” he said.
That doesn’t account for any heavy rains, though, he said.
“We should come through this pretty well.”
Calnot said he had not heard of any mandatory evacuations, but some residents aren’t taking chances.
“I have seen some people hauling property, but those were voluntary. I think most of the [voluntary] evacuations in Van Buren County were based on knowledge from previous flooding,” he said.
While most infrastructure in Van Buren County is holding up, roads, especially those near the river, have had their share of problems.
“Quite a few are closed. Generally, all the river roads are closed, that is, roads that are following along the river,” he said. “We have some low-lying blacktops that are closed, the bridges at Douds and Selma are closed.”
And though there are local, gravel roads flooded or otherwise closed, he said, “the people who live there know how to get around that.”
Eldon
The town’s most flooded street, Water Street, is still closed — but most residents there are staying in their homes.
On Monday, Eldon City Clerk Carrie Teninty said 61 people in that area have had their gas shut off by the utility company, but there has been no mandatory evacuation order there or anywhere else in town.
But parts of Eldon further from the Des Moines River are seeing flooding from the swollen Chippewa Creek. Because of that, the city clerk is not in her typical location downtown.
“City Hall has been temporarily moved to the bank,” she said from an office provided by Libertyville Savings Bank.
After the basement of Eldon City Hall flooded, officials decided to play it safe and shut off the electricity. They hope to have a direct phone number for residents soon. In the meantime, she is “trying” to conduct city business as normal.
“We’ve got some of West Walnut Street under water,” Teninty said about the road behind City Hall. “We have sandbags on Highway 16 [with] one lane open just as you come over Chippewa Creek.”
Getting to Floris may be tough, too. While the bridge to get to Floris is still open, she said the last news she had heard was that “you can only go so far. Then you have to turn around. You still have to go through Ottumwa to get to Floris.”
There’s been another change in town.
“Garbage [collection] has been canceled until further notice,” she said.
Wapello County has a request
“There’s a lot of water above and below Ottumwa,” said Wapello County Sheriff Don Kirkendall.
The unusual sight of completely submerged fields is causing a problem, he said — not just for farmers but for emergency workers, too.
“Sightseers,” he said, shaking his head. “We’ve got to keep people from going around road barricades. And we have sightseers in boats, several boats. People need to stay off the river and stop going around barricades.”
Eddyville
The mayor of Eddyville is optimistic.
“It appears the water level has gone down a couple inches,” said Mayor John Johnston on Monday.
Within the next day or two, as the U.S. Corps of Engineers backs off on how much water they release into the Des Moines River, he said, they could even see an additional decrease in the river levels.
“How much, I don’t know,” he said.
Other things have improved, too. Sunday afternoon, Johnston said, the National Guard showed up, allowing workers a much needed break.
“The Guard will be manning the pumps at night and walking the levees looking for problems,” he said. “It gives our employees and volunteers a chance to get some rest. These guys have worked really hard. They got their first good night’s sleep [Sunday] night. I’d like to thank all the city workers, the volunteers and National Guard for all their help.”
Remaining problems are manageable, he said.
“We’re still fighting surface water, but we got two [more] six-inch pumps thanks to Alliant Energy,” he said. “If the good Lord is willing, we’ll keep the water out.”
Mark Newman can be reached at 683-5358 or by e-mail at mgnewman@mchsi.com.
Organizers confident about Wapello County Fair
ELDON — Despite the flooding, Eldon City Hall has been fielding calls Monday on whether there will still be a fair this week. The answer is “Yes.”
“The community is pulling together for a great fair,” verified Fred Jenkins, one of the organizers of the Wapello County Fair, “and everything looks like we can go right ahead.”
People will have to be a little patient, he said, but he doesn’t expect that to be a problem because people know what is going on with the flood.
“Placements [are] going to be a little different. And [fair patrons] can only enter from the north along [Highway] 16. But the monster truck will be in, Evans United [carnival] is setting up [Monday] and the track looks [good].”
In fact, only the area around the rear entrance — Water Street — is very wet, Jenkins said.
“The rest of the fairgrounds have actually been quite dry.”
The river is right behind the fairgrounds, and the flooding can be seen easily from there. There’s a chance, said Jenkins, the monster truck may offer rides to view the flood without anyone actually having to go stand on a levee.
The fair begins Wednesday with the carnival getting under way at 6 p.m., followed by the queen and princess contest, pie auction and the SKJ Jazz Group at 7 p.m.
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