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After devastating flooding this year, Iowa funneled $15 million into a special fund to help local governments recover and guard against future floods. Missouri budgeted more money to fight rising waters, including $2 million to help buy a moveable floodwall for a historic Mississippi River town.
In Arkansas, Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced $10 million to repair damaged levees while creating a task force to study a system that in places has fallen into disrepair through years of neglect.
The states' efforts might turn out to be only down payments on what is shaping up as a long-term battle against floods, which are expected to become more frequent and destructive with the rise in global temperatures.
The one restaurant in a southwest Iowa town plagued by this spring’s flooding is preparing to reopen for business. Blue Moon Bar and Grill in Hamburg has been closed since mid-March because of flooding.
Vicki Sjulin (Shu-LIN) is one of the owners. She and her husband have dipped into their retirement savings to bring the restaurant back. She says it’s the kind of place farmers love.
They come in at noon. We pretty much know where they’re going to sit, what they’re going to drink and for the most part, what they’re going to order. It’s a staple. It’s a community social place. They all meet, you know, talk about the crops.
Sjulin (Shuh-LIN) is getting the restaurant ready for inspections this month. She aims to reopen September 3rd at the earliest
