The water is again safe to drink in Ames — but the city’s mayor says there’s a lot of work ahead in flood recover. The water system was compromised Wednesday after several water mains broke during the flooding. Mayor Ann Campbell says the news Sunday was important for the community to get safe water back.
Campbell says it was also important for Iowa State University with the arrival of students back on campus to begin the academic year next week. Campbell says flushing the water system is just one of the tasks needed to recover from the disaster.
“We’re by no means back to normal in terms of the individual residences, the commercial operations, industries, that have experienced severe damage, and frankly we don’t yet have a handle on the extent of that,” Campbell says. She says inspectors are working around the clock to determine the extent of the damage. Campbell says response to her city’s plight was nationwide.
Campbell says once the flooding became national news, there was “a remarkable outpouring of support” with companies from across the country sending truck loads of water. She says other cities also helped out with fire support when the city was short of water, and many other city mayors and managers called her to offer help.
Campbell credited the Ames city staff with doing great work to get the water back on so quickly.
By Pat Powers, KQWC, Webster City