Iowa DOT News Release

AMES, Iowa – May 30, 2012 – The Iowa Department of Transportation is announcing the release of a Storify project chronicling the 2011 Missouri River flooding and its impacts on Iowa’s transportation system. Photos, video and news articles are featured, along with a narrative detailing the events that unfolded as the flood waters inundated western Iowa. Go to www.iowadot.gov to view the story.

Take the six-month journey to recount the courageous flood fight, witness the extensive damage and see how quickly Iowa was able to rebuild.  

The flooding in Iowa covered a distance of 150 miles from Sioux City to Hamburg. In its path roadways were turned to rubble or covered with a thick layer of sludge. Vegetation was stripped from the landscape. Closure of miles of Interstate 29, coupled with the closing of the Missouri River bridges near Decatur, Nebraska City and Omaha, Neb., left motorists searching for detours that took them miles out of their way.

The dramatic impact the flooding had on the region’s economy, its effect on mobility and the resilience of the people who suffered will not be soon forgotten. But, currently there is only one place where you can find it all captured – the Iowa DOT’s Storify project. Check it out!

If you would like to recount your personal experience with the 2011 flood, visit the Iowa DOT’s Facebook site and post a comment or upload your photos or video: www.facebook.com/iowadot.

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