Flood destroyed grain storages and a town in the USA

Grain silos destroyed by the flooding in Hamburg, Iowa
Photo by: The New York Times

Grain silos were destroyed by the flooding in Hamburg, Iowa (the USA), the New York Times reported.

In Hamburg, home to about 1,100 people, the swollen Missouri River invaded houses, swamped the farm equipment dealership and even reached the flagpole in the center of town. It covered diesel tanks and corrupted the drinking water plant. It turned streets into canals.

Damage to industry and infrastructure was expected to reach into the hundreds of millions of dollars, and perhaps much higher. At least three people had died, including one in the same county as Hamburg.

“We all know, living between two rivers, that something like this can happen,” said Heather Garcia, who has not been able to return to her flooded house since Monday when she fled with her son and dog and pretty much nothing else. “But it’s our home. And we just keep going. I’m not really sure how to explain it.”

The town had long been protected by an approved levee as high as 18 feet designed to block floodwaters. It was just enough to spare the city through the floods that year, and so residents were eager to keep it forever. But the Corps said the improvised addition was not sufficient as it was. It needed to be removed or rebuilt to particular specifications — at a cost. When the money could not be found, the levee was cut back to its original size and residents were left gazing nervously toward the riverbank.

Previously it was reported that in the first two months of 2019, the US had significantly increased imports of Ukrainian honey, thereby hitting the top three in terms of consumption of these products.