City staff in Dubuque are preparing for the Mississippi River to crest this weekend. John Klostermann has been in Dubuque’s Public Works department for 47 years and has been its director since 2016. His department has been preparing for this flood since February, but he says their work is built on decisions made half century ago.
“It’s not something we just decided to do this year or last year,” he says. “It’s been building every year since it was dedicated in 1973.”
Klostermann says it’s normal for SOME of the 17 gates that form the city’s flood wall to be used during spring flood season. “All the gates have been closed and that’s only the third time since the levee system was constructed and completed in 1973 that we’ve closed all the gates,” he says, “so it’s an unusual type event.”
While the river will be at flood stage for another week or so, the National Weather Service anticipates the water cresting in Dubuque at 24.4 feet on Saturday and then slowly coming down.
(By Zachary Oren Smith, Iowa Public Radio)