SOURCE:  DesMoinesRegister,com

BY PERRY BEEMAN • PBEEMAN@DMREG.COM • MARCH 1, 2010

The Iowa Great Lakes vacation area would face flooding similar to the 1993 record if the area gets a quick snow melt and the worst-case drenching by spring rains, the National Weather Service predicts.

Officials and residents across Iowa, haunted by record floods in 1993 and again in 2008, are bracing for the possibility of spring flooding again this year. The weather service has predicted a higher-than-usual chance of significant flooding over much of the state this spring.

The Red Cross already has stockpiled 1,500 flood-cleanup kits around the state, a spokeswoman said. More could be ordered quickly.

In the Iowa Great Lakes, the Dickinson County disaster response coordinator, Michael Ehret, requested a special National Weather Service assessment of flooding potential for his area because a huge snowpack had many worried that trouble was on the way.

The chain of glacial lakes is one of Iowa’s most popular vacation spots. Shorelines and nearby roads are dotted with everything from modest homes to multimillion-dollar mansions.

West Okoboji Lake, East Okoboji Lake and the three lower lakes all would be within 6 inches of their 1993 levels, above or below, the assessment found. Big Spirit Lake would be 6 to 12 inches below the ‘93 level, but still would have significant shoreline flooding.

While parts of eastern Iowa, including Cedar Falls, Cedar Rapids and Iowa City, saw record or near-record flooding in 2008, the highest water at the Iowa Great Lakes came in 1993.

Some businesses closed, docks and boats floated away, stretches of shoreline collapsed and many low-lying homes were inundated.

Ehret said there’s no reason to panic. These are rough predictions. And in 1968-69, when winter brought even more snow to the area, local rivers flooded but the lakes stayed in their banks.

Still, Ehret suggests those who had water in their basements, or worse, in 1993 check to make sure their sump pump works, just in case. The county already is shipping in sandbags as a precaution.

“If your property flooded in 1993, you should start looking at your options today,” Ehret said. “I just wanted people to start getting ready” in case the worst mix of fast snow melt and heavy spring rain materializes, he said.

This year, the lakes already are 10 inches above normal, except for Big Spirit, which is 15 inches higher than usual. The area got a year’s worth of snow in December alone.

Julie Fillenwarth, manager of the long-running Fillenwarth Beach resort on West Okoboji Lake, said bookings for summer are strong, and no one is panicking.

“I’m not concerned at this point. The trouble in ‘93 started in April, May and June, and we’re not there yet.”

“The scary part is nothing has been done since ‘93,” even as the area and spots upstream became more developed and more prone to runoff, Fillenwarth said.

Fillenwarth referred to a proposal, going back to the mid-1990s, to remove a road and build a new bridge at the south end of Lower Gar Lake, the last stop for water going through the chain of lakes. That would increase the amount of water that could be released.

New culverts were installed to release floodwater in ‘93, but the bigger plans to improve drainage have stalled amid debate over how best to improve flood control.

The boat house at Fillenwarth’s West Okoboji Lake home collapsed from ‘93 flood damage, a year after the flood. During the flood, the resort had to rebuild its docks 27 times, in part to raise them as the west lake rose.

For now, Okobojians are focused on snow depths.

Tom Kuhlman, who runs the area chamber of commerce, has lived in the area his whole life, 61 years. He’s seen plenty of very snowy winters that didn’t result in major floods. This time around, a shallow frostline will help, as will near-term forecasts that suggest some days of slow melting.

“I remember many winters like this when I was a lad when we didn’t have flooding,” Kuhlman said.

Not that he blames the disaster people for preparing for the worst.

“It would be kind of silly for our emergency preparedness person not to be prepared,” he said. “It’s more a report of ‘let’s be prepared.’ That’s always a good thing.”

Already, Milford is making sure sandbags are available for its water pump house at West Okoboji Lake. Wahpeton along the west lake is doing the same for its City Hall.

Through Feb. 18, the Iowa Great Lakes area had received 61.7 inches of snow this year, compared with 41.5 for that period in ‘93 and more than double the average of 27.8.

The record snowfall for the season was 82.9 inches in 1968-69. The snow melt and spring rains flooded area rivers and added 2 feet to the lake levels in a month, but did not cause massive flooding around the lakes.

Neighboring areas of Minnesota, upstream, have 16 to 24 inches of snow on the ground, another threat.

BY MALLORY GEORGE AND TYLER O’NEIL • MGEORGE2@DMREG.COM • FEBRUARY 1, 2010

Iowa is at risk for significant flooding this spring, the National Weather Service says.

At some of the highest risk for flooding are cities along the Des Moines River from the Minnesota

border to the Des Moines area, including Estherville, Algona, Fort Dodge and Des Moines. At risk for

moderate flooding are areas along the Mississippi River from the Quad Cities south.

Other parts of eastern Iowa have a minor to moderate flood risk, while most of central and northwest Iowa will be at high risk.

The weather service’s spring flood outlook comes as some eastern Iowa cities are still rebuilding from the floods of 2008, which caused an estimated $10 billion in damage statewide.

The predictions are based on the state receiving normal amounts of precipitation this spring, said Brad Small of the National Weather Service’s Des Moines office. The predictions cover February through April.

Factors contributing to the flood risk include above-normal soil moisture and river flows statewide, Small said. Another factor is the snowpack, which ranges from 1 to 4 inches across the state, with the highest amounts in the northwest.

“The best-case scenario is that we melt the snow gradually and have below-normal precipitation heading into the spring,” Small said. “The worst-case scenario is we warm up quickly and get heavy rains coincident with each other.”

The floods of 2008 were the result of heavy precipitation in late spring.

National Weather Service meteorologist Rod Donavon said communities most at risk for flooding should monitor forecasts and prepare for high water.

“Unlike 2008, now we know the moisture is in place,” Donavon said. “It’s not going to occur overnight.”

Polk County Emergency Management Director A.J. Mumm said county officials are doing everything they can to prepare. He said that his office is accessing available resources and that the public should do the same, whether that involves buying insurance or making emergency plans.

“All the ingredients are there for (2008-level flooding), but there is time for things to work themselves out,” Mumm said.

Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett said there is reason to be worried, particularly since his city is still recovering from the 2008 floods, which put about 1,000 city blocks under water.

“It’s very easy to be extremely concerned,” Corbett said. “It’s still so fresh in everyone’s mind.”

The mayor said he is scheduling public meetings this month and in March to collect as much information as possible.

“Knowing the forecast certainly helps us from a planning aspect,” said Corbett, adding that developing a solid plan is his top priority. “In 2008, people felt there was not ample notice. With ample notice, they could have saved more important items.”

Donavon said temperatures this week, which will hover around freezing, will not be conducive to melting snow and ice.

Snow is in the forecast for today.

A storm was expected to hit Des Moines around daybreak and last through most of the day, bringing 2 to 4 inches of snow.

The National Weather Service will publish an updated flood forecast Feb. 19.

Source: DesMoinesRegister.com

Saturday, February 13, 2010

(Spirit Lake)– Good news for ice fishermen…but it’s another sign of the continuation of our brutal winter.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is extending the deadline ice shelters need to be taken off lakes that are north of U.S. Highway 20. The new date is February 28th.

Officials say the extension is to allow shelter owners an additional week to break their houses free and get them off the ice.

For public waters south of Highway 20, the February 20th deadline remains in place.

If a shelter goes through the ice, DNR officials say its’ the owner’s responsibility to get it out of the lake.

source:exploreokoboji.com

Tuesday, February 09, 2010

(Estherville)– Officials with GKN Wheels say a portion of their roof collapsed around 7:45 a.m. Tuesday at their Estherville facility.

KUOO News has learned the Estherville Fire Department and Ambulance Service were called to the scene, but a statement issued by the company didn’t say whether anyone was hurt. It says “all employees are safe and operations have been closed this (Tuesday) evening.”

The statement adds the company is still conducting assessments and that they expect to be operational by the end of the week.

The statement also credits emergency response teams, saying they did “a superb job responding and securing the building”.

Meanwhile, no one was hurt when a portion of the roof over a warehouse at Mau Marine in Okoboji collapsed sometime either late Monday night or early this (Tuesday) morning.

A roof over one of the marina’s liveries on East Lake Okoboji collapsed a couple weeks ago.

Last week, the roof over a garage at a Spirit Lake apartment complex collapsed, damaging several vehicles inside it.

A number of other roofs, mainly over larger buildings, have collapsed as well in recent weeks from heavy loads of snow and ice. Here again authorities say no injuries were reported, but in most cases a signficant amount of property damage was reported to the buildings themselves and equipment inside them (in some cases trucks)

Source:  www.exploreokoboji.com