The week’s weather has been especially hard on farmers; where overflowing rivers have flooded recently planted fields. In Mount Vernon, Matt Kroul looked out over the fields his family has farmed for more than 100 years.
“It was a cornfield, we did have it planted, but as you can tell, we’re probably going to lose it,” Kroll says Two fields are already flooded from the rising Cedar River, expected to crest Sunday. Kroul says they hope it will dry out soon so they can re-plant-in the meantime they’ll sell a lot more flowers.
“You’re having trouble one, have to put some time and energy into another facet of your business,” Kroll says, “It affects us, yeah. Would be nice, one year to have normal rainfall, normal anything. But hopefully those years come.”
Kroul says this time, they don’t expect any buildings or machinery to be flooded, but it’s a grim reminder of the damage done in 2008. In Monticello, the Wapsipinicon River has been flowing over its banks and carrying debris from upstream.
It has flooded out a campground, where Blue Inn camp block owner Bobby Tuetken says the weather for the past few months has kept campers away. He says he’s still in the process of fixing up the event center, which was damaged by a flood two years ago.
“In 2010 it came, got about 18 inches, had to gut it all out. You live with the crick. It’s pretty, but it can also flood,” Tuetken says. Downstream in nearby Anamosa, volunteers put sandbags along Highway One and by a wastewater treatment plant.