Davenport braces for Mississippi crest

Colleen Morthland fills a gas tank in the midst of Mississippi River floodwaters on Monday in Princeton, Iowa

DAVENPORT, Iowa (CNN) -- The only major Mississippi River city without a flood wall, Davenport, Iowa, fought to shore up temporary levees as forecasters predicted a near-record flood crest Tuesday.

The National Weather Service has forecast a flood crest of 22.5 feet for Tuesday night that will fall just short of the 22.63-foot record set in 1993. The high water is expected to linger for several days, so Davenport authorities kept a wary eye on the sandbagged walls erected along the riverfront.

"It looks like we're going to be over 22 feet for several days into the next week," Davenport Public Works Director Dee Bruemmer said. "So it's going to take a lot of manpower here."

INTERACTIVE Techniques for fighting floodwaters    CNN WEATHER FORECASTS Davenport, IA La Crosse, WI Shakopee, WI Grand Forks, ND Granite Falls, MN    RESOURCES CNN weather satellite: U.S. North Central

The rising water has put tremendous pressure on the levees and the riverfront stormwater sewer system. River water is bubbling up through manhole covers, storm drains, and just about anywhere it can find a crack to squirt through.

Public works crews and the Iowa National Guard have had to pile sandbags on top of the manhole covers to slow the flow and to keep the water pressure from blowing the covers off.

High winds have also added to the city's headaches.

"The winds are blowing out of the south, and that's the worst possible direction, because it puts even more pressure against the dams," Davenport Mayor Phil Yerrington said.

Yerrington has had to defend the city's decision after the 1993 floods not to build a permanent flood wall. The motivation was financial, he said.

"We've made a conscientious decision over the years that an unobstructed view of the river ... generates $100 million in tourism money," Yerrington said. "So we've decided against that."

Davenport lost its battle to protect the home of the local minor-league baseball team, the Quad City River Bandits. Sunday morning, concrete slabs at the northwest corner of John O'Donnell Stadium gave way because of groundwater pressure, and authorities feared the situation would worsen before the river's expected crest.

Wade Youngers looks over the sandbag dike that protects his home from the rising Mississippi River on Monday in Princeton, Iowa

"Floodwaters are rising inside the stadium," city government spokeswoman Jennifer Nahra said.

The River Bandits have been forced to take their home schedule on the road. Home games are being split between Riverview Stadium in Clinton, Iowa, about 30 miles to the north, and Black Hawk College across the river in Moline, Illinois. The team's Web site said the River Bandits hope to return to the stadium by May 15.

Sunday afternoon, city officials were going door to door in a southwest Davenport neighborhood, distributing leaflets with relocation plans, if it becomes necessary for residents to evacuate the area, Nahra said.

"(We) want to make sure you're prepared in case anything happens," City Councilwoman Roxanna Moritz told an elderly resident. "Just in case we come in and ask you to leave."

She told another resident in the threatened neighborhood, "You need to be prepared ... if it's in the middle of the night, you'll just hear sirens out here, people knocking on your doors."

The city leaflet suggested residents pre-pack valuables or keepsakes to help speed evacuation.

In the upper Midwest, the Mississippi River has flooded communities in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois, as well as Iowa.

The Coast Guard has shut down more than 400 miles of the river to commercial traffic, because of the high water levels and the threat waves could pose to levees and dikes.

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April 22, 2001
Iowa levees feel weight of Mississippi
April 21, 2001
More rain forecast for flooded Midwest
April 20, 2001
Long weekend of rain threatens flooded Midwest
April 19, 2001
Mississippi edging up banks of Quad Cities area
April 18, 2001

Minnesota Department of Public Safety
The National Weather Servicee

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