This past week the U.S. Midwest, particularly Wisconsin and Iowa, were hit hard by unprecedented floods.

(NOTE: I intended to post this three days ago, but it got lost in a netglitch.)

There's a planning concept, the "100 year flood," used to calculate the likelihood of catastrophic flooding; a100-year flood has a 1% chance of occurring in a given year. As you can see on this map, Iowa City, Coralville, and the University of Iowa have been inundated by waters exceeding 100 year levels, and in some cases 500 year levels. The Iowa River crested Sunday at 31.5 feet, ten feet higher than the level that constitutes a flood. Water is still overflowing the spillway and will continue for several more days.

My parents live just north of the river and were evacuated on June 12. This is their neighborhood now.

It will be 2 weeks or longer before they're allowed to return. Most residents do not have flood insurance -- the area was built at least 1 foot above the base-flood elevation -- so any assistance will come from FEMA.

Devastating. And a reminder that whether it's floods, mudslides, wildfires, earthquakes, tornadoes, or hurricanes, human constructions are so easily overwhelmed by nature.

Dan
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