Flooding has plagued Midwest towns and cities along the Mississippi River for most of the year, and only now are officials in some towns considering ways to mitigate future flood events. Dealing with high standing water that’s lasted from spring to summer has been the top priority of public works departments before the Mississippi crested in river communities.
In the Quad Cities of Bettendorf and Davenport, Iowa, and Moline, East Moline and Rock Island, Ill., the Mississippi was in major flood stage for 51 consecutive days from March 23 through May 12. Davenport officials are still investigating the April 30 flood event there that put much of Davenport’s downtown underwater. Deciding what to do to limit future floods is a priority, as the previous record for consecutive days above flood stage for the Quad Cities area was 31 days from mid-April to mid-May 2001.