FEMA Director visits Davenport, Senator defends city’s flood approach

The director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency is due in Davenport at 11 this morning to survey the flood damage. FEMA chief Joe Allbaugh will also meet with the river city’s mayor and talk about the floodwall issue. Iowa Senator Tom Harkin says there’s a reason Davenport has no floodwall as the city depends on the river for entertainment and recreation.Harkin says “we have to respect the wishes of the people of Davenport” on the floodwall issue, but he adds, there are other options that could be considered, such as flood gates.Early estimates show one-point-eight million dollars in flood damage in Scott County alone and about two-and-a-half million for FIVE other eastern Iowa counties along the Mississippi River. The damages in Allamakee County are estimated at 689-thousand dollars; Clayton County, 927-thousand dollars; Clinton County 281-thousand; Dubuque, 159-thousand and Jackson County, 596-thousand. The river’s cresting today in Muscatine, Burlington and Keokuk.