Evacuations ordered for downtown Des Moines

[Bluebear]

DES MOINES, Iowa - Officials on Friday issued a voluntary evacuation order for much of downtown Des Moines and other areas bordering the Des Moines River.

Officials recommended that downtown residents and businesses evacuate parts of downtown on either side of the river by 6 p.m. Friday. Included are all areas in Des Moines' 500-year floodplain.

The alert was prompted by rising river levels expected to peak at 8 p.m. Friday.

Des Moines Mayor Frank Cownie says that they are asking for the evacuations "to err on the side of citizens and residents."

The evacuation should begin immediately, Cownie says, and be completed by 6 p.m.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080613/ap_on_re_us/midwest_flooding

[Fresh_Start]

1. Be safe Iowans and DU Iowans

this is unbelievable

[Shoelace]

2. there's a good photo gallery there too

I heard that on tv this am. KCRG news which I'm listening to right now said that a historic bridge just fell into the river (built in 1890). Lots of road closures all over Iowa too. In Cedar City, the Cedar river is 12 ft. over historical flood levels from the 1800s. FEMA is supposed to have press conference in a few minutes (Fox News, CNN). This will be their "other" Katrina so we'll see how they handle this catastrophe.
Live streaming video news here:
http://www.kcrg.com/