Des Moines Residents Forced to Evacuate After Flooding
August 13, 2010
Nearly 300 residences on Des Moines’ east side were forced to evacute Wednesday after the Four Mile Creek overflowed its banks after yet another night of heavy rains. Many of the residences in the Four Mile area have suffered significant damage as gas and water meters were put out of service forcing the shut down of gas and electricity to some areas. Dozens of the displaced people were forced to check into emergency shelters located throughout the area.
In the Country Estates Village mobile home community, several residents were forced to leave when the water had reached their top porch step and many residents there had said that they have never lived through anything like this even after being in the area for up to forty years.
The greater Des Moines area has been drenched with around eight inches of rain since last weekend. This week, hot and humid weather during the day has been followed by nights that brought pounding rains all across the central part of the state. The relentless rain has caused the Four Mile Creek and Walnut Creek to produce record water levels on the west side of Des Moines, leading to officials asking nearby residents to evacuate. The sewer system in the city is also backing up into many basements in the city with the south and east sides seeing the worst of it.
Residents who have storm water backing up into their basements are being warned by the local health department that the water is most likely contaminated and to use extreme caution. Police patrol units are being deployed to those neighborhoods that have been evacuated to guard against burglaries and break-ins. Rescue workers were busy Wednesday seeing to it that everyone who needed to be taken to dry land got a lift on a boat.
In Ames, flooding caused a water main to burst, which forced the city to shut off water to its population of 55,000. The Iowa State University basketball arena was submerged in five feet of dirty flood water and it is unknown when the facility will be open again as cleanup efforts and a full evaluation must be done to assess the degree of damage sustained. The National Weather Service has put a flash flood watch into effect for parts of Iowa from Thursday through Friday night. New storms moving into the area could result in three more inches falling in the already heavily saturated regions of the state.
