Flooded US Midwest asks White House for more aid
Pastor Dale Morgan
Flooded US Midwest asks White House for more aid*
24 Jun 2008 17:07:43 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Michael Conlon
CHICAGO, June 24 (Reuters) - Midwest governors pleaded with the White
House on Tuesday for more help to counter billions of dollars in damages
from floods that drowned parts of the U.S. farm heartland and drove
thousands from their homes.
The request came as the flood threat in a key region of the world's
biggest food and grains exporter continued to ease, though another levee
in Missouri burst early on Tuesday sending the swollen Mississippi River
into a relatively small, unpopulated area.
In Indiana, Governor Mitch Daniels said the heavy rains that began at
the end of May likely triggered "the worst agriculture disaster in state
history," with one in every 10 acres of corn and soybeans lost at a cost
of at least $800 million.
Across the region up to 5 million acres (2 mln hectares) of corn and
soybeans may have been lost, fueling worries that world food inflation
will worsen even as energy prices set records.
Iowa Governor Chet Culver said his state suffered by conservative
estimates "billions of dollars in damages" of all types, with more than
38,000 residents displaced.
Culver, Daniels and the governors of Wisconsin and Illinois made the
comments in a letter to President George W. Bush asking him to lower the
amount of money the states have to put up to match federal assistance,
saying the disasters have pushed their budgets to the breaking point.
They requested that the state share of such assistance be set at 10
percent -- with Washington paying the other 90 percent -- instead of 25
percent local and 75 percent federal as usually required.
It was not immediately clear how much federal money the states would
ultimately get under either formula.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in St. Louis said the Mississippi River
had crested upstream and would do the same farther south during the week.
But flood fighters were still piling sandbags on a weakened levee near
Winfield, Missouri, north of St. Louis and a second levee in the same
region failed during the night, flooding a soccer field and a sod farm.
Summer classes at the University of Iowa resumed on Monday with more
than 10,000 students picking their way around more than 20 buildings or
other facilities that remained closed from flooding along the Iowa River.
Officials said the disruptions could continue into the autumn when the
campus swells to more than 30,000 students. Among other things a major
riverside dormitory housing more than 1,000 students will not be opened
for the fall term, the said.
In Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where more than 9 square miles (23.31 sq km) of
homes and businesses were damaged or destroyed, the clean up is just
getting started in the downtown area where the power was still out. Huge
generators provided electricity but underground electrical vaults were
still under water
"Because of the mixture of all the different things that were in the
water, including raw sewage and gasoline, the smell is just terrible,"
said Lee Clancey, president of the Cedar Rapids Area Chamber of
Commerce. "The recovery workers have to wear masks because of the carbon
monoxide that's being let off by all the generators and pumps that are
working."
"Honestly, the biggest issue we have right now is an inability to pick
up all of the piles and mountains of garbage that have been accumulated
as a result of people clearing out their businesses," he added.
(Additional reporting by Kay Henderson in Des Moines; editing by Anthony
Boadle)