The restaurant where we ate yesterday was sandbagged all around two sandbags high --only the doorways were without the sandbags but the necessary amount to close the ring were standing close by. The RV park where we stayed had all the buildings sandbagged and sandbags over each sewer outlet and tarp and santhatdbags over the septic system. They told us much of the flooding of the farmland and homes could have been avoided if the Army Corps of Engineers responsible for the dam up the Missouri River had done what the people were asking. The people (oldtimers who had been through this before) told them they should have been letting small amounts of water through the dam daily late winter and early spring to be ready for the massive amounts of water that would be brought with the excessive snowfall this year. They wouldn't listen and then when it came to pass with the heavy snow water runoff, the dam was going to burst if they didn't let it all out. Consequently it has ruined most of the homes, roads and farmland in eastern Iowa anywhere close to the Missouri river. Now they feel when it finally runs off, it will take all the fertile topsoil with it making the land useless for years. How sad. Since we got detoured to the east and couldn't continue down I-29, we just decided to go ahead and head east on I-80. Will pick up I-74 tomorrow and go through Peoria. I plan to take Russell to see the house and neighborhood where I was born and lived until I was almost nine. Will also show him where I went to school. I'll take photos, of course. Will eventually head south again and hope to be home in six days or so.
|
Advertisement
|
