Flooding in the Midwest USA may last several more weeks.
Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds warned residents of the region that large-scale flooding in the Midwest could still be very far from complete.
According to Reynolds, the melting of snow and spring rains could cause additional flooding in the coming weeks due to non-functioning dams, many of which were damaged in this flood, writes USA Today.
“We still have a very long way to fight. We're just getting started,” Reynolds said, adding that she saw unprecedented flooding during her trip to Western Iowa this week. “It was like the ocean.”
In the neighboring state of Nebraska, 88 cities and 74 counties have imposed a state of emergency due to flooding. Vice President Mike Pence visited the state of March 14 and promised to speed up recovery assistance through a federal declaration on natural disasters.
According to Colonel Michael Manion, an employee at Offatt airbase, which also flooded, the base is being restored, but he stressed that "it will take some time" before the object returns to normal operation.
“The scope of this historic disaster has affected nearly every part of Nebraska,” Manion said.
A closer look at Sioux Falls on the Falls after record rain and snow melt. AMAZING #flooding pic.twitter.com/Bt51QDFh8g
- Matthew Dux (@MatthewDux) March 14, 2019
In Missouri, the Amtrak transport company has suspended train traffic between Kansas City and St. Louis until Sunday, March 24. The company said that the reason for the suspension was the freight trains, which redirected to Amtrak railroad tracks, "because of the historic flooding in the central part of the United States."
It is expected that the current flood of flooding, triggered by a “bomb cyclone” last week, will continue in several states over the next week. The Army Corps of Engineers reports that more than a dozen dams were damaged or overloaded in Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri.
AccuWeather lead meteorologist Paul Pastelok said flooding could turn into a chronic problem in most parts of the Midwest and continue into deep spring.
Waterloo, Nebraska has severely overflowed its banks after the Elkhorn River #newx #flood pic.twitter.com/RAnLjNjqbH
- WeatherNation (@WeatherNation) March 17, 2019
Marta Bain, director of risk management firm Gallagher, said that the impact of such weather conditions on businesses in Nebraska and throughout the region can be very serious. According to her, some companies that are located in areas where floods usually do not occur do not have insurance in case of flooding.
In addition, she clarified that insurance covers damage to buildings and inventory, but does not cover losses from business suspension. According to her, some operations may not be resumed within a few weeks, which will prolong the waiting time for the order by potential customers of the company, and also delay the receipt of income by the company.
Then there is the problem of a “surge in demand,” she added.
“When a large area is affected by catastrophic losses, increased costs of materials and labor can add significant additional costs to recovery. Local labor shortages could further aggravate the situation,” she explained.
According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, more than 40% of small businesses never open again after a disaster.
“The longer the floods continue, the greater the likelihood that some businesses will not recover,” the expert emphasized.
However, in some parts of the region the flooding has receded. Among them is Lehigh (Iowa), which has a population of 400 people. Residents say they experienced the worst flooding they've ever seen over the weekend, but by Wednesday, March 20, the water had receded and they were cleaning up their homes and yards after the flooding.
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