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Flooding across the Midwest over the weekend caused residents to flee as levees were breached by the rising floodwaters and emergency workers had to use boats to rescue stranded residents of towns along the Platte, Missouri and Elkhorn Rivers, and at least two people have perished. The rising floodwaters are the aftermath of the massive storm system that pushed through the nation’s midsection on Thursday and Friday, pushing rivers to record flood levels in Nebraska, South Dakota, Iowa, and Minnesota, according to the Associated Press. Rising waters continued late into Sunday forcing more evacuations.
Rising floodwaters in the Missouri River led to the closure of Interstate 29 from the Missouri border with Iowa to Missouri Valley, Iowa 85 miles to the north.
The Missouri National Guard relocated its C-130s from Rosecrans Air National Guard base in St. Joseph, Missouri, according to the Associated Press.
Why This Matters: The flooding won’t just stop in Missouri. All that water has to go somewhere. The Corps of Engineers, that manages the whole Missouri and Mississippi River system will be on alert for high floodwaters to work their way downstream into the lower Mississippi River in a few weeks. As one weather forecaster put it, this is just a “dress rehearsal” for what is to come in April on the Mississippi River. The flood water is like a bulge in a hose – with nowhere to go but down the river, because so much of the banks of these rivers have “hardened” with levees and dams in order to use them as floating highways and to protect farms and towns. But if these “hundred” year floods are the new normal as scientists believe, we need to think about how to deal with these extreme events – they are no longer extraordinary. And we are convinced that this is why people in states like Iowa, Nebraska, and Missouri want candidates to talk about climate change as the election season gets into full swing.
By Ashira Morris, ODP Staff Writer For decades, uranium mining has contaminated the Navajo Nation, causing higher cancer rates and water pollution. Even though the health risks and environmental harms of uranium mining are well-established, new operations continue to move forward. One local group, the Eastern Navajo Diné Against Uranium Mining (ENDAUM) hasn’t found a […]
By Natasha Lasky, ODP Staff Writer California Governor Gavin Newsom announced that he would extend the drought emergency statewide and issued an executive order to have residents conserve water. As part of this effort, eight new counties were added to the state of emergency, and authorized the State Water Resources Control Board was authorized to […]
By Elizabeth Love, ODP Contributing Writer Authorities in the Canadian Arctic territory Nunavut, announced a state of emergency this week due to a possible contamination event affecting the City of Iqaluit’s water supply. Tests were performed after residents reported the smell of gasoline coming from their tap water, but they came back clean. However, […]
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