Missouri River flood could worsen

June 9th, 2011 - 7:30 pm ICT by Aishwarya Bhatt  

Iowa, June 9 (THAINDIAN NEWS) Residents in Iowa are racing against time to protect their communities as the Missouri River’s water level rises. Predictions by forecasters have also increased the anxiety of the residents.

Meteorologists expect more rain than normal to fall within the next 10 days. The chief hydrologist of the US National Weather Service, Jeff Zogg summed up the worst fears of the residents when he said that, “That’s not what you want.”

The Missouri River is currently taking in record water. A couple of days back, 5 inches of rain fell in Montana and the final destination of the water is the river. There is no hope even with the summer just around the corner.

Jeff said that, “This isn’t going to be an up and down event. It’s going to go up and stay up,”

The forecasts don’t look that good for the residents. The US National Weather Service announced that it is likely that by Monday, the Missouri River at Sioux City will rise by 2 feet. The US Army Corps of Engineers are on standby to open the Gavins Point Dam in South Dakota when that happens.

Several towns in the state have been evacuated.

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