Iowa under floods - 20,000 flee!

The floods have hit the state of Iowa hard, forcing some 24,000 to lose their homes and another 20,000 to literally run for their lives. The floods are on account of unprecedented rain in the Iowa area which generally sees about a few inches of rain per year. But this time around, due to heavy rains coupled with thunderstorms, the Cedar river has risen far above the record mark it set the last time in 1929. It managed to reach a height of 32 feet, higher than the old mark by nearly 12 feet.

The Cedar river has flooded the drinking wells as well, thus limiting the amount of drinking water available to the citizens there. The wells that supply this water has been flooded and it will be quite some time before they are rendered usable again. In the meantime, with only one well still in use, it is time for the rationing to begin.

The forecast for the Cedar river area is not all that good with more rains being forecast. With most of the major levees having broken down, any more rain would only serve to make this far worse, transforming the Cedar river into raging flood waters. The fact is that despite disasters like Katrina and others, the infrastructure is ill-equipped to handle a massive exodus leave alone provide food,water and shelter for the remainder of the time needed. The question is that is Iowa planning to do in order to manage this crisis?