Recent heavy rains in southern Iowa are significantly raising at least two of the state’s reservoirs. Lake Rathbun, located near Centerville in south-central Iowa, is up more than 17 feet above normal and it’s up seven feet in just a week. That has Rathbun Marina owner Douglass Clemons launching a sandbagging effort to protect the marina’s hotel.
Clemons says without the sandbags, the water will reach into the hotel and the store and it’ll hurt infrastructure. He says they need “at least a couple thousand sandbags” to get a good start. The current water elevation is within six feet of the historic 1993 levels. Rathbun isn’t the only local lake impacted.
Lake Red Rock, near Pella, has risen ten feet in three days but will be eight feet below 1993 levels when it crests later this week.
By Joe Milledge, KIIC, Albia