The root cause of last summer's flooding in Iowa
May 26, 2009

The National Weather Service office in Des Moines has prepared a report on the 2008 floods, including extensive details on how they tried to keep the public informed and how their forecasts for river flooding were prepared. But the essence of the flooding is captured with this statement: "The statewide average precipitation from January to June 2008 was 24.47 inches which was 8.13 inches above normal. This became the wettest January to June period on record. Statewide records date back to 1873." When more precipitation falls than at any other time in 135 years, including the run-up to the titanic Floods of 1993, then quite little can be done to keep trouble from happening. The flooding, however, did bring a lot of attention to the need for adequate flood and stormwater management programs, systems, and equipment.

May 2009
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last revised May 2009