High Waters Hamper Flood Recovery Efforts

By Martin Kaste

Published June 17, 2008 at 4:00 PM EDT

Locals in Columbus Junction, Iowa, have named their flooded downtown along the Iowa River, "Lake C.J." The grocery store, day care center and a doctor's office are all underwater.

Parts of Iowa are still underwater after days of heavy flooding. That means roads are closed and bridges are washed out, making simple transportation more difficult.

In some parts of the state, it seems almost every bridge is blocked by a National Guard Humvee. County roads are clogged with dump trucks full of sand destined for the levees.

The trucks are helping to shore up levees. The National Guard and volunteers have been working for days to build up a few feet of extra height, but the water is still seeping through.

Martin Kaste

Martin Kaste is a correspondent on NPR's National Desk. He covers law enforcement and privacy. He has been focused on police and use of force since before the 2014 protests in Ferguson, and that coverage led to the creation of NPR's Criminal Justice Collaborative.

See stories by Martin Kaste

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