Flooding in Iowa, April 8 to 30, 1997

Spring snowmelt from very heavy snow cover across the upper basin brought significant flooding to portions of the Mississippi River. Several locations reached the third through fifth highest crests of record. Crests might have been higher; however, precipitation for March and April over Iowa and Illinois was well below normal, therefore the area tributary rivers contributed very little to the crest. Economic impacts were significant; however, because the initial forecasts from the River Forecast Center were quite good, most of the expenditures were spent on preventative measures rather than on flood repairs and replacement. The primary costs were from sandbagging, and interupted commerce, rather than in water damage. Barge navigation on the Mississippi River and train traffic along the river was suspended for up to two weeks. Cities with flood wall or levee protection faired quite well with little impact. Among those without protection; Davenport, Iowa, reported the cost in city employee overtime and sandbagging to to be at $420,000. This cost however, did not cover any of the loss of business to the downtown area where one business reported losses of $200,000 a day.