Levee Breaks as US Midwest Flood Damage Mounts
Date: 18-Jun-08
Country: US
Author: Nick Carey
A levee broke in Gulfport, Illinois, sending muddy waters from the most important US waterway cascading into nearby farmland and a few homes. No one was injured but authorities closed the bridge across the river to Burlington, Iowa.
Corn and soybean prices stayed near record levels as millions of acres of cropland have been lost or damaged in the world's largest grain exporter. Meat prices also soared, in line with the costs for feeding cattle, hogs and chickens.
"We've faced some pressure this year, but there could be greater pressure next year on food inflation when protein prices start to increase," said Bill Lapp, a food industry consultant and former chief economist at Conagra Inc.
US President George W. Bush promised aid to the stricken region, where billions of dollars in farm and business losses in the heart of the US grain belt looked set to increase inflation pressures on prices for food, fuel and other goods.
"I, unfortunately, have been to too many disasters as president," Bush said after a briefing on the flooding.
But Sen. Robert Byrd, a West Virginia Democrat, said little had been done to prevent flooding and Bush had learned nothing from Hurricane Katrina and other disasters.
"President Bush has asserted that investing in America's needs is somehow 'wasteful' and his budget, which does not add one thin dime for a boost in levee funding, reflects this sentiment" Byrd said.
In Quincy, most of which sits on a bluff overlooking the river, officials organized a major effort to gird against what was expected to be a record crest later this week. Across the river in 1993, a sabotaged levee triggered massive flooding.
"We have quite a wall of water coming our way," Mayor John Spring said. "Flooding is all part of life along the river ... but this time we are better prepared for it."
Roger Sutter, who was in charge of sandbagging and levee building, said the sandbags and levee work done should provide around a foot and a half (half a metre) of protection above the level the river is predicted to crest.
Hundreds of National Guard troops, prison inmates and volunteers participated in the sandbagging efforts that have been repeated across the Midwest -- often without success.
"What we have to do now is keep an eye on it and make sure we don't have any breaches," Sutter added.
FINANCIAL LOSSES MOUNT, COMMERCE DISRUPTED
Comparisons have been made to the major 1993 flooding that caused more than US$20 billion in damage and 48 deaths in the Midwest. This month's flooding has caused few deaths, with Iowa hardest hit. But the damage has yet to be toted up.
Corn prices at the Chicago Board of Trade soared above US$8 a bushel for the first time on Monday and stayed near there on Tuesday in fears Midwest farmers will not be able to grow anything on as many as 5 million acres (2 million hectares).
"It's the uncertainty. We don't know how many acres we have, we don't know what the yields are going to be on the acres," said Roy Huckabay, grain analyst with The Linn Group.
The closing of the mid-Mississippi River to barge traffic is costing carriers US$1 million or more per day.
"In 1993, there were months of delays," said Larry Daily, president of Alter Barge Line Inc in Bettendorf, Iowa. "This time, it's going to be shut down two weeks if we don't get any more rain -- longer if it rains again."
The Mississippi River is the main channel for grain flowing from Midwest farms to export terminals at the Gulf of Mexico. It shipped 68 million tonnes of farm goods in 2006.
The problems add up to more food inflation for not just US consumers, but also dozens of countries that buy US grain. The United States exports 54 percent of the world's corn, 36 percent of soybeans and 23 percent of wheat.
Fortunately for residents, the weather was cooperating, with only a slight chance for thunderstorms in southeast Iowa on Wednesday and few scattere