Governor Chet Culver toured flood damaged areas of eastern Iowa Tuesday. His stops included Davenport, Muscatine and Cedar Rapids. "It certainly gives you a great deal of respect for Mother Nature," Culver said of the flooding at his last stop in Cedar Rapids. Earlier this week, the Governor declared two counties in northeast Iowa and one in southeast Iowa as State Disaster Areas.
Culver says, so far, there are about 15 counties affected by flooding. The disaster declarations for Bremer, Black Hawk, Jones and Louisa Counties will offer state assistance with pumps and sandbags. Despite the high waters he witnessed Tuesday, Culver says he’s not ready to declare more counties disaster areas. "We’re hopeful that the water will recede, the rivers will crest soon and we won’t be getting into any significant financial loss…whether it’s business or individual, but it’s really too early to tell," Culver said.
In both Muscatine and Davenport, Culver praised residents and city officials for their sandbagging efforts that helped minimize damage from the Mississippi River, which was more than four feet above flood stage in both cities.