News

Cities, Counties Fighting the Rising Mississippi River

Tri States Public Radio | By Jason Parrott

Published May 1, 2019 at 5:06 PM CDT

Crews spent Wednesday installing extensions to Burlington's permanent floodwall along the Mississippi River.

Burlington Assistant City Manager Nick McGregor said Wednesday afternoon that the community's top priority is to install extensions to the top of its permanent flood wall. He said the extensions would increase the floodwater protection from nearly 23 feet to roughly 28 feet.

“If we don’t get the wall on, none of the rest of it all matters,” said McGregor about the need to add to the flood wall.

McGregor said Burlington’s flood protection effort is a combination of the floodwall and large barricades set up at the northern and southern ends of the structure to protect low-lying areas. He said these barriers have been in place for about a month.

McGregor said city crews are being extra cautious following the breaking of a levy in Davenport this week. That led to businesses being flooded and motorists being stranded. He said the two cities use the same type of barricades.

“They had just one HESCO barrier and I think just the sheer weight of water pushed it open. It had been sitting there a while too… but we have two on the bottom and one on the top so we have three times the mass,” said McGregor.

McGregor said city staff will meet Thursday morning to assess the river level, the projected crest, and the integrity of the flood protection in place to determine if more changes are needed.

Meanwhile, about 20 miles to the south, Lee County has declared a state of emergency due to the flooding on the Mississippi, Des Moines, and Skunk Rivers.

The declaration will make it easier for the county to spend emergency funds and to ask for help from neighboring communities and from the state of Iowa.

Road Closures

The view from above Keokuk's Victory Park. The red oval marks all that remains of the several foot tall cement posts located at the edge of a parking lot next to the river museum.

Keokuk, Iowa

Mississippi River Drive

Lee County, Iowa

340^th Street (Highway 27 to Argyle Road)
320^th Street (Highway 27 to Argyle Road)
245^th Avenue (Charleston Road to 235^th Street)
263^rd Avenue (Highway 61 to 240^th Street)
Valley Road (Hilton Road to 250^th Avenue)
Valley Road (250^th Avenue to Twin Rivers Drive)
250^th Avenue (Valley Road to Hilton Road)
Pending – Old Quarry Road in south Augusta

Des Moines County, Iowa

Tama Road (East of Highway 99)
Tama Road (North of 113^th Street)

The view of Fort Madison's Riverview Park from the city's train depot.

Fort Madison, Iowa

2^nd Street (Avenue E to Avenue H)
Riverview Drive (in Riverview Park)
Marina Drive (in Riverview Park)
Avenue I (10^th to 12^th Streets)
14^th Street (Avenue I to Avenue M)

Burlington, Iowa

Front Street (west of the post office)

Henderson County, Illinois

Carmen Blacktop (Route 34 to Highway 750 North)
Oquawka Covered Bridge (off Illinois 164)

Warsaw, Illinois

Water Street

Highway 61 between Alexandria, MO and Keokuk, IA.

Clark County, Missouri

Highway 136/61 (Alexandria to Iowa State Line)

Lewis County

Route B (north of Canton to Highway 61)
Route B (south of LaGrange to Highway 61)

Quincy, Illinois

Memorial Bridge (between Missouri and Illinois)