BURLINGTON, Iowa (AP) - City workers in the eastern Iowa city of Burlington have taken steps to try to prevent possible flooding along the Mississippi River.
Burlington’s Public Works Department put up precautionary flood barriers on Thursday and Friday around the Market Street Lift Station, near Memorial Auditorium, in anticipation that the river will continue to rise, the Burlington Hawk Eye reported (https://bit.ly/1maHX5v ).
The National Weather Service predicts the river at Burlington will gradually rise to 17 feet by Wednesday.
Burlington officials say minor flooding occurs in east Burlington when the river is between 15 and 16.5 feet, and moderate flooding occurs between 16.5 and 18 feet. Major flooding occurs at more than 18 feet.
Public Works Department Director Steve Hoambrecker recalled last April, when the river was predicted to rise to about 17 feet but actually rose to more than 22 feet, flooding riverfront areas.
Putting barriers up after the river already has risen is harder, because it cuts into the space needed for trucks and front-end loaders used to fill the barriers with sand, Hoambrecker said. The barriers also don’t work as well if they are put up wet, he said.
Once the river reaches 17 feet, “it will be lapping at the … barriers we put up on the east side of the lift station,” he said.
If the river rises higher, then the Port of Burlington parking lot and the paved skirts around the building will start flooding, Hoambrecker said. If the river threatens to exceed 17.5 feet, the city will erect more barriers on the east and southeast sides of Memorial Auditorium, he said.
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Information from: The Hawk Eye, https://www.thehawkeye.com
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