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Burlington Assessing Damage from Flooding

The Burlington Beacon
The flood water continues to recede as Burlington surveys the damage to its downtown.

The Mississippi River at Burlington continues to recede, dipping below major flood stage over the weekend. As the floodwaters recede, the city is learning the scope of the damage caused by the failure of a temporary flood barrier several weeks ago.

Assistant City Manager Nick MacGregor said Memorial Auditorium saw the worst of it. He said about 3 ½ feet of water entered the building, damaging the banquet room, kitchen equipment, and the event risers on the first floor.

The arena floor buckled as well, likely due to the humidity.

MacGregor said the nearby Port of Burlington had approximately two feet of water inside, though the damage was not as severe as Memorial Auditorium. He said that’s because most of the contents of the Port were elevated in ahead of floodwaters entering the building.

A third city-owned building that was affected was the depot, which had a couple inches of water seep in through the stone wall.

Credit The Burlington Beacon
Asst. City Manager Nick MacGregor leading a recent tour of the flood recovery efforts in downtown Burlington.

MacGregor said the city lost several pumps, a forklift, and a staff member’s pick-up during the sudden flooding of the downtown. He said temporary flood barriers will continue to be removed as the river level allows.

As a result of the flooding and subsequent clean-up, the city relocated a downtown concert series scheduled for June 20-22.

Burlington Riverfront Entertainment said the concerts will be moved to the Westland Mall parking lot in West Burlington. Some performances require a ticket while others are free of charge.

Schedule (*-Headliner)

Thursday night (5:00 p.m.-11:00 p.m.)

  • The Left-Overs
  • Caught in the Crypt
  • Head First

Friday night (5:00 p.m.-1:00 a.m.)

  • David Kroll & Heartland
  • *Granger Smith with Mitchell Tenpenny & Hardy
  • StumpTown

Saturday (5:00 p.m.-1:00 a.m.)

  • Ghost of Judas
  • *.38 Special with Tucker Beathard & Craig Gerdes
  • Evolver
Jason Parrott is a former reporter at Tri States Public Radio.