Heavy rains hit again and flash flooding is a problem over many parts of Iowa, but residents and business owners in one Des Moines neighborhood are returning to their properties after evacuating in the face of possible flooding. Polk County Emergency Management Coordinator A-J Mumm says the intense rainfall that fell in Boone County is not expected to force water out of the metro’s levee system downstream, so some evacuees from the Birdland neighborhood on the northeast side are now moving back.
“There are several that have returned; there are several in unincorporated Polk County that have returned. You know the water levels are down. As long as it’s safe to restore the utilities in that area then we feel it’s okay for them to go back in,” Mumm says. While it has been determined to be say for the residents to return, they’re asked to stay up on the weather situation.
“We would certainly want people to remain aware, stay informed, but the levees held up as best to what we expected them to do,” Mumm says, “there’s a couple of vulnerable spots that remain, Birdland, there’s an area downstream near North high school. Public works will continue to monitor those. The area was flooded in 2008 when a levee broke.
Polk County officials were not immune from the flooding concern. The county had to evacuate a large office building on the north side of town that houses a driver’s license station, food assistance program, and child welfare office. The property was quickly evacuated last Monday forcing employees to load up 15 semi trailers of canned fruits and vegetables and dry goods.