Floodwater claims Davenport stadium, debate continues about flood wall

Floodwaters from the Mississippi River rushed into John O’Donnell Stadium Sunday after some concrete slabs buckled. Kevin Krause, president of the Quad City River Bandits, says the flood waters have created all kinds of havoc. Krause says at this point only the pitcher’s mound is above water, and if they need to replace the field, it could cost over a quarter of a million dollars.Levees and temporary levees in Davenport were inspected today by the head of the Army Corps of Engineers. General Robert Flowers had been inspecting flooding along the Red River in North Dakota and Minnesota before making a stop in Davenport.He says over five million sandbags have been filled and put in place in the areas he’s inspected. Flowers inspected the Bettendorf levee and the protection work in Davenport. Flowers says a lot of work has gone into the fight and he thanked everyone who has helped out.Governor Tom Vilsack says Davenport residents should consider “options” for protecting their city from flooding in the future. Vilsack says it’s a difficult decision as maintaining the “river view” is important to Davenport. He says the river is an economic plus for Davenport, bringing in over a quarter-of-a-million visitors, and over 800-thousand people use the river for recreation.Some critics have suggested state and federal assistance should be withheld from Davenport because the city’s decided not to build a flood wall, but Vilsack says that’s a step too far. Vilsack says the people of Davenport can’t help the fact that they’ve sustained three 100-year floods in the last 20 years.Vilsack says a floodwall isn’t necessarily the answer.as there may be other options, like floodgates which would maintain access to the river when there isn’t a flood.