Friday
Jun132008
Iowa Flood the "Katrina of the Midwest"
Dan Patterson speaks with Cedar Rapids, Iowa resident Dave Langston about the devastating impact of flooding in Eastern Iowa. Mr. Langston describes the extent of the damage in Cedar Rapids, evacuations, and the flood's impact on animals. The flood could destroy up to 20% of the Midwest's corn crops, significantly impacting food and fuel prices around the world. Corn has risen from about $2.50 per bushel to over $7.00 per bushel. Local lawmakers say the price could rise as high as $9.00 per bushel. (7:21)
Local Iowa corn field. Photo by Marion Patterson.
TRNS Chief UN Correspondent Dan Patterson grew up in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. If you have commentary, feedback, pictures or video of the Eastern Iowa Flood, send them to danpatterson [at] talkradionews [dot] com
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Local Iowa corn field. Photo by Marion Patterson.
TRNS Chief UN Correspondent Dan Patterson grew up in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. If you have commentary, feedback, pictures or video of the Eastern Iowa Flood, send them to danpatterson [at] talkradionews [dot] com
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Flood, Iowa, benjamin netanyahu, thisweek in Audio, News/Commentary
Flood, Iowa, benjamin netanyahu, thisweek in Audio, News/Commentary
Reader Comments (25)
Nature Fights Back
With over 92% of Iowa's 36,000,000 acres of landscape dedicated to agriculture, is there any question that Nature is expressing a resounding "NO" to the contamination by GMO crops/pesticides/fertilizers/CAFO's which have contaminated the corn/soy crops, the soil and the water of this state?
Stick it to the corporations and farmers who live in ignorance of your Laws, Mother Nature!
I agree with you on standing against contamination , yet don't think that the thousands of people now left homeless are to pay for it. It's not corporations sinking, but the homes of hardworking people living on the area ... most of them with no flood insurance.
Let's pray for them instead of making political statements out of this tragedy!
Really? That's what you come up with? It has to do with GMO's. Really???
SO... what, The GMO's cause more evapoation of water in the gulf, great lakes, oceans, which ultimatly lead to heavier rain at the source of those GMO's?
Agenda much?
Hey Jal,
I bet you're not dragging your family out of a completely flooded home. This is an effect of global warming, but it's most certainly not the fault of Iowa, or the people whose homes are now completely destroyed. This is Mother Nature getting back at all of us for our CO2 emissions; I'm pretty sure "she" doesn't care at all about pesticides or the food products you eat.
You can be a liberal without being a complete douchebag.
Jal...I hope that Mother Nature has a lightning bolt ready just for shoving up your ass. It is likely that global warming has a lot to do with the significant climate changes being experienced all over the world, but I think that GMOs have very little to do with it. Unfortunately, this could be the beginning of a new inland sea formation (which is what most of America was during several prehistoric periods), but your indifference for those being affected is reprehensible.
May I draw your attention to this post http://tinyurl.com/6ozlgv and this http://tinyurl.com/6l87nj post for reasonable explanations of Midwest flooding?
Shit happens and this time alot of it has happen. Is there a reason, no one can really prove anything. We have to deal with it and precautional measures to prevent it from happening again, just like 9/11.
Iowa Flooding "Reconnecting Families and Individuals"
For Immediate Release:
Iowa USA
Friday, June 13, 2008
NOKR is asking anyone that may have a missing or potentially injured family member due to the flooding situation in Iowa to register this person with the Next of Kin Registry.
Register at: www.nokr.org
Registered contact information will be passed on to area emergency officials responding to this disaster.
The NOKR organization has initiated contact with the Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management office to offer any assistance possible to help reunify individuals and families displaced by this tragic flooding.
The Next of Kin Registry (NOKR)
Can be found in the following area in Iowa
State of Iowa website (Public Safety Services)
http://www.iowa.gov/state/main/safetyservices.html
US Governments Portal USA.gov (Under Family Services)
http://www.usa.gov/Government/State_Local/Health.shtml
Next of Kin National Registry
About NOKR:
The Next Of Kin Registry (NOKR) was established as a FREE tool for daily emergencies and national disasters. NOKR is an emergency contact system to help if you or your family member is missing, injured or deceased. NOKR provides the public a free proactive service to store emergency contacts, next of kin and vital medical information that would be critical to emergency response agencies. Stored information is only accessible via a secure area that is only accessible by emergency public trust agencies that have registered with NOKR.
NOKR encourages every township, county, municipality, city, state and nation to take ownership of the NOKR. This resource belongs to you, your citizens and to your emergency agencies. Take the NOKR registration forms and add your own identifying symbols.
NOKR is a humanitarian organization. As part of our mission to society NOKR has created a trusted safeguarding system for all personal emergency contacts worldwide. NOKR does not own the information we store, this information belongs to the registrants and is made available securely to registered emergency agencies during times of urgent need.
NOKR is a non-partisan; non-profit 501(c)(3) dedicated to bridging rapid emergency contact information. NOKR was established in January 2004, for daily emergency situations.
The NOKR's system is used during daily emergencies and was utilized for the following national and global disasters.
2004 Asian Tsunami
2005 London Bombing
2005 Hurricane Disasters
2005 Mudslide Guatemala
2006 India Train Bombing
2006 Indonesia Earthquake
2006 Leyte Village Philippines Mudslide
2007 Virginia Tech College Shooting
2007 I-35 Bridge Collapse in Minneapolis, Minnesota
2007 California Wild fires
Don't forget this is less than 100 years of weather history. Think about the floods and weather that formed the grand Canyon, Missouri, Mississippi, Great Lakes, and, the hills and valleys of the plains. No scientist can prove what caused any of it. We only have a small, 100 year window, of millions of years of our great earth history. If you ar in the middle of every flood water and look up, you will see a hill. Why is that? How did the hills get there? Why is there a valley. Think gravity, H20, Erosion, and Mother Nature. This all happened before CAFO's, CNN, HBO, GMO, Gore's, Bush's, McCain's, Clintons, Obam's and any political party. Lot's of people making a nice living speculating on the weather, none can change it. I'm betting on mother nature.
Hello: How about you help out as in immediate contributions to legitimate organizations, being involved politically - knowing issues and voting locally, work with governments and chambers of commerce and the business structure to develop communities more reasonably; to help people have sustainable jobs; to protect erodible soils yet not take away the livelihood of those who work the land. All the above takes courage, thoughtfulness and is long term commitment.
As for the last comment about the "100 year window" there is lots of evidence available to scientists who use the accurate study system to come to logical and valid conclusions about how the earth's surface weathered as well as other large scale scientific phenomenon. Again, a process of diligent study, developing hypotheses, testing these, discussion among colleagues, keeping an open mind, being curious, coming to fluid conclusions because scientists know that knowledge changes and deepens over time. Scientific theory is well-developed reasoning, not an "opinion."
So, let's stop the drivel and start helping out.
Hi Y'all. While I can certainly appreciate your larger systems analysis of this latest national disaster, I cannot help but ask: doesn't this all also point a Big Middle Finger at the US Army Corps of Engineers failing levees?
I do enjoy however enjoy your connections of this man'made disaster to Archer Daniels Midland and their ilk.
It is a big picture of a big problem--but you all know the show ain't over 'till da'Rat Lady sing!
We are all over this on the Ladder.
Thank you,
Editilla
New Orleans News Ladder
Wow! It is amazing to me how the media can be such an influence on people who aren’t living in Iowa right now. Why does everyone think there should be someone to blame for this?
Global warming could be a factor, we have had strange weather over the past few years here. Iowa / Minnesota / Wisconsin had record snowfall this year, and it was still snowing into May. After that we received heavy rain every day until just last week. The ground is saturated, and there is no where for it to go. The levee system in Cedar Rapids (where it exists) didn’t fail, the water just simply went over the top. 19 feet over flood stage is just a freak act of nature that no one can stop. Not any different to the EF5 Tornado that leveled over 200 homes and businesses in Parkersburg, Iowa on May 25.
As long as there is development along the river, combined with rain and snow, there are going to be floods. This city/state were prepared and saved a lot of people’s lives through early evacuations, including a busy downtown business district and hospital. There has been no looting, or rise is crime out of this disaster.
Thank God for the people of Iowa!
"The Katrina of the Midwest"?? Are you serious?? About the only similarities between the two is lots of water left standing in areas that it normally is not.
If this were anything like Katrina then where the hell are the movie stars and singers organizing charity events to help out? Where are the local and state politicians, going on the air daily, blaming the Federal Government and demanding $500 debit cards for misplaced citizens? Why isn't some country singer ranting that George Bush hates white people? Where is the looting? Where is the rash of violence perpetrated by those who have made a living out of demanding and expecting government handouts?
You aren't going to see any of that in Iowa. Iowa is made up of hard working family people who take care of their own and don't look for excuses at every bad turn. No, there won't be the spectacle in Iowa that we saw in Louisiana. No this is nothing like Katrina. And the worst part is this "Natural" disaster is one that is actually going to hurt, maybe even cripple, the US for a while. If you don't know, there is far more to corn than just "on the cob" (don't understand? do some research). Our economy is already in a declined state and this will add to it tenfold more than Katrina's effects could have ever had on us.
No this is definitely no Katrina.
The flooding in the midwest is a Katrina like event but glaring shows the difference between people who take responsibility for their own lives and people who look to governemnt for their needs and take no responsibiblity for thrir lives. I have heard no one complain that the government has not done enough, or done it fast enough. I have heard no one try to blame someone else, I am sure that will be coming from some outside folks if they think they can gain something political from it. No one has been shooting at helicopters and police in Iowa.
I have a friend who headed out for NOLA in the aftermath of Katrina, he had the job of handing out bottled water. He was amazed at the general sentiment that was something like.. "we don't want water, do you have any cokes"..
The people of Iowa and the midwest in general give me hope for America. Lately I have become synical because of all the people in this counrty who refuse to take responsibility for their station in life and want the government to take from me and give to them, and the politicians who are willing to sell us all out for the votes... thank you Iowans for being such great people! These are the times that show what people are really made of and THIS is the proper comparison between Katrina and the flood in Iowa... the response of the people affected by the disaster.
Ron are you saying that we need to do the same thing that happened after 9/11. You mean take away everyones freedom and throw away the constitution. Maybe we should just force them all into the FEMA consatration camps that have been created by haliburton just before they moved out of the US... Or maybe we should take everyones guns away like they did in New Orleans, maybe thats the real "Katrina of the Midwest"
Create the problem, offer the solution, be the hero... contect the dots...
very well put Julien.
And prisonplanet, I too am a firm believer in our 2nd amendment rights, however when you become an animal with your firearm and have no respect for your fellow man or for the authorities trying to help your situation (just like what was happening in N.O.), then something needs to be done about that. Yes, it is a right to bear arms and it is also the RESPONSIBILITY of the arm bearer to act as a law abiding citizen when in possession of that firearm. Career thugs and criminals with weapons need not have any 2nd amendment right....perhaps you should connect the dots.
The difference is how the two populaces responded to adversity. I remember Geraldo Rivera reporting in front of the New Orleans convention center and in the background there was this rising crescendo of voices shouting, "Help us. Help Us. Help us". I was embarrassed, as I was one who had called New Orleans home for 28 years. I have since moved. Since then they saw fit to reelected William "Dollar Bill" Jefferson and Ray "School Bus" Nagin. Amazing!
[...] out of their homes, forced to flee the rising tide released by the failure of their levees. The images and video footage coming out of the area are wrenching to watch, especially after my own personal [...]
To those morons repeating the racist Limbaugh rant on how those "people who take responsibility for their own lives" responded so poorly to the Katrina disaster:
Hurricane Katrina was responsible for an estimated $185 billion dollars in damage and more than 1,300 deaths.
The Midwest flooding so far has only caused an estimated $3 billion dollars of damage and around 24 deaths. The comparison is not even close.
Had the Midwest seen the scale of disaster that was visited by Katrina on the gulf states, and the neglect - for days- of the Bush administration to bring a meaningful response I guarantee you would see the same reaction there.
In response to Radio 2020. I stand corrected that there was a levee break in the Cedar Rapids area, but it was south of the downtown area. The downtown and north sections of Cedar Rapids (town of Palo) were flooded because of the volume of water, not by a levee break.
We need to invade a country of brown people and kill them all. This will help my "Forgiven Ones," forget the terrible, inhumane, terrifying, murderous and holocaust like act my father bestowed upon those that prayed for war with Iraq.
Just 1.2 million dead Iraqis and almost a millio0n refugees no to forget the 5 million orphans and my father wipes out 24 people that was unjust inhumanity against Americans. I am love and peace and for finding those WMD's in Iran. It was Iran I actually said to President Bush, he misunderstood it as Iraq.
There were plenty of people affected by Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita that suffered without screaming "The government ain't taking care of me!" My family only suffered minor loses to our property while many of my co-workers lost entire homes. We were without power and water for nearly three weeks, but everyone went to work cleaning up so that we could continue with our lives. People from all over the US sent emergency supplies that were very much appreciated. The people affected by this flooding aren't looting and shooting at rescue personnel. They deserve the same care packages and support as sent to us in our time of need. They will recover!
Since 95 Percent of the city of Iowa is White, I can feel good about sending the much needed residents of New Orleans all of my donations and cash. Sorry, Iowans, you took the low road comparing disasters and help. So rest assure, your recovery will be as slow or even slower than New Orleans. After all, the housing and lending markets are a complete mess. Good luck. Try Obama 2008, He is a Black man After all.
c r guns...
As you seem to know what your doing blogging wise, do you know what the best time of the week is to blog and have them read?...
Yes, Belle - Obama will lower the oceans and save everyone from flooding. I know it was really Obama who blogged here as Jesus because he IS the second coming and if you just vote for Him, all will be okay. Maybe not as many people died in Iowa because they didn't wait to evac. My in laws lost their home and they are rebuilding not crying, as are there neighbors, a good mix of race in Iowa City - just responsible Midwestern people - not black or white. Everything is not about race or global warming you dorks!
Katrina point: People were hungry and thirsty in the dome and convention cetner - none of them starved! Nor where there mass killings or rapes as reported by our horrible media. They did get help, but the federal government was busy rescuing 5,000 people from their own roofs. They should have left them and brought the people who were safe cokes? It was a terrible natural disaster that our best attempts (to protect a city below sea level) did not save 1300 people or thousands of homes - that is life, that is what man has had to deal with all of history. Had this happened anywhere else, they would have had 100,000 dead. Your lack of context and reality is staggering!! George Bush did not blow up the levies you dolts! The federal government did more than the state and locals did, and they did it well, despite what Anderson Cooper said. This was only a politcal issue because a republican was in office. If it had happened under clinton they would have said "what a great job He did to help us poor people!". Kartrina happened, the flooding in the midwest happened - things like this will always happen. Iowan's responded well, some in Katrina did not. Unfortunatley the welfare mentality has been taught too well in NOLA - hats off to those who survived and struggle on. Hat's off to those who helped out. Shame on all of you who made this something it was not. May God have pity on your soul!