NorthStarXO  

Today we're going to discuss the flooding in Iowa and the storms across the midwest and what should you expect in an emergency from local, state and federal government.

Since I didn't have a Burns My Ass story last week I'll lead with that this week:

CNSNews.com

Tehran, Iran - "Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who as Iran's supreme leader is commander in chief of the Iranian military, predicted last week that terrorists would acquire nuclear weapons and ''take away security from all the tyrants of the world.'' In his speech at the tomb of his predecessor, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Khamenei made it clear that he understood America to be the leader among ''the tyrants of the world.'' While predicting that terrorists would obtain nuclear weapons, Khamenei claimed Iran was not interested in obtaining nuclear weapons itself"

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/viewstory.asp?Page=/ForeignBureaus/archive/200806/FOR20080609b.html

Bloomberg News

Washington, DC - President George W. Bush said he was ``disappointed'' that Iran's government dismissed a package of incentives from six nations aimed at getting the country to suspend uranium enrichment.

European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana said yesterday he would make a ``generous and comprehensive offer'' of economic and political incentives to Iran's leadership this weekend to persuade the Islamic Republic to halt uranium enrichment.

Iranian government spokesman Gholam-Hossein Elham said today that ``Iran's position vis-a-vis the package is clear and a pre- condition such as suspension can't be considered,'' according to the state-run Mehr news agency.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a871EDk9cMAQ&refer=home

4 Marines Die in Afghanistan; 870 Inmates Escape - 5 Hours ago

Associated Press

Kandahar, Afghanistan - About 870 prisoners escaped during a Taliban bomb and rocket attack on the main prison in southern Afghanistan that knocked down the front gate and demolished a prison floor, Afghan officials said Saturday. And in western Afghanistan on Saturday, a roadside bomb exploded near a U.S. military vehicle, killing four Americans in the deadliest attack against U.S. troops in the country this year, officials said.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5i8dGftYb0s4XWdUMRdIVs3vh1CKAD919SOOG0

Associated Press

Kurihara, Japan - A magnitude 7.2 earthquake ripped across mountains and rice fields in northern Japan on Saturday, killing at least six people as it sheared off hillsides, jolted buildings and shook nuclear power plants. At least eight people were missing.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,366926,00.html

Associated Press

Osaka, Japan - Soaring oil and food prices are emerging as serious threats to global economic growth, finance ministers from the world's top industrialized nations said Saturday, while vowing to work together to address the problem.

The world economy faces uncertainty and inflationary pressures because of the recent rise in prices, the Group of Eight nations said in a joint statement as they wrapped up two days of talks in western Japan.

The finance ministers from the Group of Eight nations — Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the U.S. — were also mapping out an agenda for a summit of their leaders next month in northern Japan.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,367001,00.html

London Daily Mail

London, England - "Two Royal Navy destroyers could not fire their missiles if they came under attack - because they have been removed to save cash. Type 42s HMS Exeter and HMS Southampton have been working without their Sea Dart guided missile system since Christmas, it was revealed today. To go with the cutbacks, at least half a dozen operating crew have been transferred to other ships. The missiles, used to protect the destroyers and larger aircraft carriers against air attack, have been stored away"

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1025254/Two-Navy-destroyers-unable-missiles--theyve-removed-save-cash.html

Reuters

Des Moines, Iowa - A tornado roared through a Boy Scout camp in Iowa and flattened a cabin where many campers had sought shelter, killing four teen-aged boys and injuring dozens of others.

Close to 100 Boy Scouts scrambled for safety in shelters at the Little Sioux Scout Ranch when the tornado hit on Wednesday evening, one of dozens of twisters that ripped across the U.S. Midwest into the night.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/marketsNewsUS/idUKN1229458820080612

Washington Post

Cedar Rapids, Iowa - The sun finally broke through the layers of clouds on Friday, a reassuring presence after a week of rain. But as residents in and around this eastern Iowa city surveyed their waterlogged landscape, they did not like what they saw.

"It looks like Katrina," said a man in a pickup truck who declined to give his name. He was stuck in traffic that was at a standstill for 10 miles on the interstate north of the city, gazing at the Quaker Oats factory and buildings sitting in several feet of water.

Locals said the flood that hit Iowa's second-largest city is far worse than the deluge of 1993. About 25,000 residents have had to leave, and hundreds of homes and businesses have been damaged, many of them severely.

More than 400 blocks of downtown were evacuated, including a jail and a major hospital.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008/06/14/ST2008061400622.html

Associated Press

Des Moines, Iowa - A levee ruptured early Saturday, sending the Des Moines River pouring into an area near downtown, and a mandatory evacuation was ordered for 270 homes, authorities said. Many residents already had left after a voluntary evacuation request was issued Friday.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,367004,00.html

Associated Press

Cedar Rapids, Iowa - Days after it swamped Cedar Rapids and forced thousands of people out of their homes, the Cedar River has begun falling. But the misery could stretch on for days.

Officials guess it will be four days before the Cedar River drops enough for workers to even begin pumping out water that has submerged more than 400 blocks, threatened the city's drinking supply and forced the evacuation of a downtown hospital.

"We're estimating at least a couple of weeks before the flood levels get down right around flood stage and below," said Dustin Hinrichs of the Linn County emergency operations center.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hw95ek5Sllmi4SoQ_N4HJvwHE0ZAD919RIA00

Associated Press

Paradise, California - Strong, erratic winds that had been complicating efforts to fight wildfires in Northern California calmed down Friday, but firefighters were still struggling to get the upper hand on one stubborn fire that scorched nearly 36 square miles and destroyed at least 50 homes.

In Santa Cruz County, firefighters got a handle on a wildfire that has scorched 1 square mile and burned at least 10 homes in the Bonny Doon community.

Another wildfire had charred more than 35 square miles in the Los Padres National Forest in Monterey County. It was nearly 40 percent contained by Friday.

In southeastern Colorado, a fire that started on a military training site jumped the Purgatoire River, a natural fire break, and was threatening eight nearby ranches.

About 290 firefighters were battling the blaze in the remote and rugged country. It had burned over 65 square miles and was 10 percent contained.

Across the country, North Carolina officials on Friday warned residents in the northeastern part of the state to limit their time outdoors because smoke from a massive wildfire was so intense. The warning was the most severe air pollution warning the state had ever issued.

The lightning-sparked blaze has burned more than 62 square miles in and around the Pocosin Lakes Wildlife Refuge, and was only 40 percent contained.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,366981,00.html

Corn Jumps to Record on U.S. Midwest Rain, Crude Oil, Dollar
Bloomberg News

Washington, DC - Corn jumped to a record on speculation rain in the
U.S. Midwest will cut supply and as rising oil costs and the dollar's
decline boosted demand for a hedge against inflation. Soybeans, wheat
and rice also gained.

Thunderstorms affected areas from the central Plains to the Midwest
yesterday, bringing more than four inches (10 centimeters) of rain to
parts of Iowa, Massachusetts-based Meteorlogix LLC said in a report.
Further storms are forecast for the next five days. Corn and soybeans
planted in wet, cool soils develop shallow roots, increasing the threat
of damage from dry weather in July and August.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aQbf6P1pF8jQ

USA Today

Des Moines, Iowa - More than 2,800 people were evacuated Wednesday, including 1,800 in Cedar Rapids. Late in the day, there were signs the flooding that has killed 10 people could have an impact far beyond the upper Midwest. Forecasters watching the rising level of the Mississippi River were warning of potential flooding this weekend in St. Louis, about 350 miles downstream from Des Moines.

Meanwhile, the flooding is becoming an increasing threat to corn, wheat and other crops, raising the possibility that the storms here could contribute to already spiraling prices for food, fuel and other commodities. Besides ruining crops, the flooding has led the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to plan on closing a 200-mile stretch of the Mississippi — the nation's primary trade waterway — to agriculture and cargo ships.

Forecasters warned late Wednesday that the Mississippi River north of St. Louis may reach or exceed levels not seen since devastating floods in 1993. The Missouri River, meanwhile, was about to crest at Hermann, Mo. Record volume on the upper Mississippi and the Illinois River could create flooding in St. Louis by the weekend, forecasters warned.

The Red Cross has opened 37 shelters in Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska and Wisconsin and served 115,000 meals and snacks to people forced from their homes. Spokeswoman Renita Hosler said the numbers are deceptively low. "We know the impact on people affected is higher," she said. "Iowa is a great example. Right now 20,000 people are under mandatory evacuation."

The turmoil in the nation's breadbasket led the Agriculture Department this week to shave 3% from this year's corn crop prediction, a rare move so early in the season. Corn topped $7 a bushel for the first time as heavy rains in Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa and Wisconsin — combined with growing demand for corn-based ethanol — pushed prices up.

"It's clearly a panic situation," said Gary Rhea, president of Risk Management Partners, a marketing firm here.

As much as one-quarter of the crops in the southern third of Wisconsin may be gone, said Paul Zimmerman of the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation. "We're talking a couple hundred thousand acres of corn that could be in jeopardy" and a comparable amount of soybeans, he said.

Shipments of corn, grain and other farm commodities have been hit. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers planned to close a 200-mile stretch of the upper Mississippi River between St. Louis and Rock Island, Ill., beginning today after rising water flooded locks and dams along the critical route for shipping grain and other cargo.

Ron Fournier, a Corps spokesman, said the section will be closed at least two weeks. He said any barges that don't get through the locks Wednesday night are "going to get stuck wherever they are."

The closing halted barge traffic as far north as Minneapolis and stopped the transport of as much as 135,000 tons of cargo a day, 80% of it grain heading downriver. Coal, fuel and fertilizer headed upriver also were stranded.

The National Weather Service predicted clear skies Saturday before showers and thunderstorms return next week. Even if no more rain falls, said John Castle, a project operations manager with the Army Corps of Engineers, river levels aren't likely to return to normal until mid- or late July.

Some of the worst flooding has been in Indiana, where President Bush on Sunday declared 29 counties disaster areas, making federal funding available for the cleanup. Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels has asked that 15 more counties in the central and southern part of the state be added.

In Iowa, Gov. Culver said 51 of the state's 99 counties were disaster zones.

Day after drenching day, Iowans now at the center of the storm have pitched in to help hold off the rushing waters, which have closed hundreds of state and county roads. The Iowa National Guard has mobilized an army of 1,700 sand-bagging volunteers. Among them: University of Iowa football players who filled and loaded sandbags at a maintenance center in Coralville, north of Iowa City.

Water rushed over a spillway in Coralville for only the second time in the dam's 50-year history, spilling out over a fossil gorge and further raising the Iowa River downstream. It was expected to crest at 31 feet, the highest level since the 1850s, said Mike Sullivan, Johnson County emergency management coordinator.

"We're anticipating areas where the sandbags may not hold," he said.

In Wisconsin, where as many as 50 roads remain closed, river levels began to subside, but officials were nervously watching 19 dams for signs of failure.

"If we face another huge rainstorm, the pressure on some of these dams is going to be enormous, and that's the No. 1 concern we have," Gov. Jim Doyle said in an interview.

Stone reported from McLean, Va.; Keen from Chicago. Schulte reports for The Des Moines Register. Contributing: Oren Dorell and Doyle Rice in McLean; Tom Barton, Jared Strong, Melissa Walker and Mason Kerns of The Register; Jason Thomas of The Indianapolis Star; Maureen Groppe of Gannett News Service; and the Associated Press

http://www.usatoday.com/weather/storms/2008-06-11-floods_N.htm

Associated Press

Washington, DC - Inflation shot up in May at the fastest pace in six months, pushed higher by soaring costs for gasoline and other types of energy.

The U.S. Labor Department reported Friday that consumer prices rose by 0.6% last month, the biggest one-month increase since last November, as gasoline costs surged by 5.7%. Food prices, which have also been rising sharply, were up 0.3% as the cost of beef and bakery products showed big increases.

Core inflation, which excludes energy and food, edged up a more moderate 0.2% in May. But even there, core prices are up 2.3% over the past 12 months, above the Federal Reserve's comfort zone.

http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/markets/economy/inflation-jumps-/

So with all the storms & flooding in the Midwest, how do you prepare?

Well part of it is, you can't. You can't prepare for a 500-hundred year flood because you'd have to wait 500 years for it to happen.

You can mitigate your damages, prepare in general for disasters, respond appropriately and recover as best you can but there was no way to know that this was going to happen.

I'm going to read some of the Iowa Homeland Security Situation Report - SITREP and explain that this is how local emergency management is supposed to work.

This is all under your own control. You need to prepare to evacuate, shelter in place etc. You can't expect people to come rushing in an save you. You have some responsibility to take care of yourself.