We don't need you're stinkin' Rain!

[Burt Munro]

As so eloquently memorialized in the 'The Treasure of the Sierra Madre'  'Rain? We don't need no stinkin' RAIN!'

Seriously, my thoughts and prayers go out to everyone in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin who have been impacted by flooding from all the rain over the last week.  I live about 10 miles from the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers and a whole lot of that rain ends up here one way or another.  The Mississippi forms the northern boundary and the Missouri the eastern and southern boundaries of the county I live in.  40% of St. Charles County was under water in the '93 flood.  For everyones sake I hope this doesn't continue toward that level!

I guess I should also include those on the East coast who have also had their fill of rain and to those in the SE who are still recovering from the drought of the last 2 years.

Contrary to what Kevin Clark says, 'Sandbaggin' ain't no fun for no one!'   

[spyderchick]

Thanks for your thoughts. We are lucky as we're on higher ground, but everything around us was under water Saturday. The Root River was flowing over the bridges in my neighborhood.

They had a tornado close to Mayfair Mall, but fortunately it didn't touch the ground.

[Woofentino Pugrossi]

Lake Delton in the WI Dells is gone. Took a big chunk out of CTY A and 4 homes so far were destroyed by erosion. The dam between Mirror Lake and Lake Delton is reorted to be failing right now. The dam between Lake Delton and teh WI river didnt break. The water eroded itself a new canal to teh river after 12" of rain fell over the weekend. The 900 acre lake has less than 20% of the water left.

[Burt Munro]

Thanks for the update Rob.  Here's a photo of some of the damage at Lake Delton.    I think it was the house on the right that I saw video on the news tonight of it breaking in half from erosion and then floating away.




Another photo of the same houses..........

[Burt Munro]

I just spent the last 2 days in Iowa visiting family.  This morning a railroad bridge over the Cedar River in Cedar Rapids collapsed into the river. 

This photographer shot the first picture, turned away for a second, heard a loud roar and turned back to snap the 2nd picture.







The Cedar River is expected to crest Friday morning at 31.8' - well above 500 year flood plain projection.

The previous record crest was 20' set in 1851 and 1929.  In 24 hours from 7pm Wed to 7pm Thurs the river rose over 7 feet.  The entire downtown business area is already under water and 4,000 residents had been evacuated as of this morning. 

My family, thankfully lives far enough away from the river to not be affected.  Although their electric and water supply could go at any time and could then be off for 7-10 days.

[barb_arah]

Wow!  What a series of pictures.  This whole flooding disaster is horrible, as it affects so many people!

[Team_Serpent]

Wonder why there was a train on that bridge?  If there was a disaster in progress why would they put a train in jeopardy?

[LilJayRR]

The cars filled with rocks were put on the bridge to help 'staiblize' it by weighing it down..

[Thingy]

I live in Cedar Rapids.  It is the most amazing thing that I have ever seen.  The whole city is pretty much at a standstill.

[Burt Munro]

Bill,

Hope things are going ok for you....  My Mom and Brother live in Marion so as long as the power and water stay on they'll be fine.

I just heard they closed I-380 between Cedar Rapids and Iowa City.  I-80 is also closed east of Iowa City, between IC and Davenport.   

So that means that if  you want to get from Iowa City to Cedar Rapids, a distance of approximately 20 miles, the DOT is telling you to go west on I-80 to Des Moines, then north on I-35 to Hwy. 20, then east to Waterloo, then south on I-380. A total of 281 miles to get from IC to CR! 

Amazing!!!

[Woofentino Pugrossi]

Its about the same in teh Dells area Burt. ALOT of roads, including major ones, are closed. Here in teh Blackhawk Farms area theres a bunch also. THe bridge people use to get to the track from I90 is closed right now along with the one just north of it in Beloit. Water is already touching both.

[tstruyk]

I'll have to get some pics from my folks... Rick do you know my Uncle Mike?  He and his family live in CR along with my grandparents who recently moved into an assisted living community...  Cedar Falls has taken a bit of a hit too.  I'll try to get some pics loaded later today.