State officials says lessons learned from the massive flooding in 1993 are guiding their actions as they fight and prepare to fight the current round of statewide flooding. One of the things being used this time around are curfews in places that have been hit by disaster such as Mason City. Lieutenant Governor Patti Judge says the curfews are born out of past experience.
Judge says they learned that if they can keep traffic down and keep people out of areas that are potentially dangerous, it’s easier for people to get their work done to restore service quickly. Judge says the changes made to prevent damage following the 1993 floods should pay off this time around.
MidAmerican Energy spokesperson, Ann Thelen, says her company believes their efforts will help prevent power outages in the latest round of flooding in central Iowa. Thelen says after the floods of 1993, the company raised all its platforms, substations and control areas so they will be above the flood plain. Thelen says even with those improvements, there will still be safety concerns, and the company has a plan to help.
Thelen says if customers have water that will reach the electric or gas meter, or breaker box, the company will come out and disconnect the service. Thelen says they may only disconnect the gas service is the electric is not in danger so sump pumps can keep running. Thelen says the company will do the emergency disconnections for flooding at no charge.