Midwest Flooding Highlights Weakness in U.S. Infrastructure

The floodwaters in Iowa and across the Midwest are beginning to recede, but the repercussions of the flooding will be substantial.

Some of the worst flooding occurred in Des Moines, Iowa City and Cedar Rapids, Iowa, when levees lining the Iowa River and Des Moines River broke, allowing floodwater to devastate the cities.

Recent flood damage demonstrates that the U.S. levee system is inadequate and unprepared for storms of this magnitude.

“We as a nation have ignored our infrastructure for the past 50 years. We haven't gone back to maintain the old roads and bridges and we just keep building new ones,” said Larry Larson, executive director of the flood plain managers group in Madison, Wisconsin.

Hundreds of Iowans have been forced to evacuate their homes, and those remaining have been encouraged to strictly ration their water intake to preserve the fresh water resources available.

The U.S. economy is likely to suffer as a result of the floods, which have severely damaged corn and soybean crops, and have delayed shipping.

Flooding from the Iowa River has reached Iowa City homes and the campus of the University of Iowa. According to the Associated Press, the river has “swamped more than a dozen campus buildings and forced the evacuation Sunday of hundreds of nearby homes.” Meanwhile, Cedar Rapids residents are having a hard time gaining access to their homes, which were flooded by the Cedar River. Dave Koch, city spokesman for Cedar Rapids, said it would take two to three more days before the river drops enough to allow crews to pump water back over the levees, and another week for the water to fall below flood stage.

Des Moines, Iowa, was flooded when levees protecting the banks of the Des Moines River broke, allowing water to overwhelm Iowa’s capital. Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has also experienced its worst flooding in 15 years. Although floodwaters have begun to recede, state emergency spokesman Alan Foster said, “we’re still just hanging on.” Kansas, Missouri, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan and Indiana have been severely flooded as well.

The Chicago Tribune reports that Midwestern flooding, the worst in 15 years, “has exposed the vulnerability of aging and weak dams, levees and bridges that seem barely able—or in many cases unable—to hold back floodwaters.” According to the Tribune, “Spectacular breakdowns were seen this week in Indiana, Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin leaving questions as to whether the region is prepared to handle such a disaster.”

In a 2007 article, Indiana University environmental and geological scientists Matthew Auer, Gabriel Filippelli and Greg Olyphant asserted that “many cities and towns in the Midwest lack adequate infrastructure to cope with the higher volumes of rainwater” which would result from warmer weather.

In May, findingDulcinea reported that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers admitted to knowing little about the overall condition of U.S. levees, which in many cases, are the only defense regions have against flooding. According to the piece, “The flood systems originally built in the United States were constructed to protect against small-scale flooding and are not meant to guard against large-scale natural disasters.”

John Carlson, a columnist for the Des Moines Register, notes that the overwhelmingly positive response to Iowa’s flooding has helped keep damage at bay: “This town and university gave it everything. Two thousand volunteers, plus soldiers from the Iowa National Guard, spent a good part of the past week building sandbag walls to protect campus buildings. Some are underwater, but the work certainly will minimize damage.”

According to The New York Times, flooding in the Midwest could have serious repercussions for the global food supply. Crops affected include corn and soybeans. “Last week, the price of corn rose above $7 a bushel on the commodities market for the first time, and soybeans rose sharply, too, reacting to the harsh weather hampering crop production across the Midwest.”

The U.S. shipping industry has been severely damaged by flooding in the Midwest. Shipments of a variety of products, including grain, coal, fertilizer and scrap metal, have been delayed, the Wall Street Journal reports.