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.