April 25, 2001—As the flood fight continues in Davenport, IA along the Mississippi, communities downstream are bracing for the flood crest coming their way.
The Mississippi River crested in Davenport, IA last night and will begin its slow fall. The flood stage for this area is 15 feet. The National Weather Service reports that the final crest was 22.3 feet. Additional crests are expected down river in Muscatine and Burlington today and in Keokuk tomorrow.
The Governor George Ryan of Illinois visited flood-fighters in Niota, IL in Hancock County (70 miles southwest of Davenport) yesterday and promised State help to avoid a repeat of the devastating floods of 1993 that nearly wiped out the small village on the banks of the Mississippi. A spokesman for the governor told reporters that the State is pre-positioning manpower and machinery in places where homes and businesses are in danger.
The governor visited a location where a week-long effort by community residents and National Guardsmen have placed over 20,000 sandbags to shore up the village's levees. The governor also noted during his visit that the Federal government has bought nearly half of the homes in the flood plain since the 1993 flood.
The river's crest of 22.3 above normal is expected to hit the Niota area today. Upstream the river crested in Davenport, IA, but flooding conditions there are expected to last for a week or more, barring any further rains upstream.
So far, the governor has declared riverside Counties of Hancock, Pike and Calhoun to a State Declaration of Emergency.
For more information, visit www.fema.gov.
