Cong. Hinson looks at flood barriers with Marquette Mayor Stephen Weipart. (Hinson Twitter photo)
Iowa Congresswoman Ashley Hinson, a Republican from Marion, stopped at three cities along the Mississippi River this week to assess the impact of flooding.
Hinson says she asked questions about the pump and flood mitigation systems. “Did they work did their plans that they had in place work? The answer was resoundingly Yes. Some of that infrastructure is from for instance, in Gothenburg from the 70s. So they’re looking at is there more that they can do to make sure that they have redundancy protection in place with generators, for example,” Hinson says. She says if the power goes out the pumps don’t work and that is a concern.
Hinson says there also could be some economic impact with the timing of this flood. “It is right before busy season is set to kick off with Memorial Day at the end of this month,” she says. “And because the water is still high, many of their folks who normally have their boats in the marinas, that has not happened, which obviously has a ripple effect on those communities as well.”
Hinson in Guttenberg. (Hinson Twitter)
Hinson says long-term protection from the river will continue to be a priority. “Clearly, I’m still prioritizing flood preparation and mitigation efforts. One of the requests that I have submitted is for a flow study along the Mississippi River so that we can help our communities be more resilient and more prepared,” Hinson says.
She visited with city officials in Marquette, McGregor and Guttenberg.