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American Morning

Mississippi Remains at Flood Stage

Aired April 26, 2001 - 11:03   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LINDA STOUFFER, CNN ANCHOR: We'll take you now to Davenport, Iowa, though, where the Mississippi River remains well above flood stage. After criticizing the city for its lack of a protective floodwall, the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency is in Davenport today. He plans to inspect the flood damage for himself.

Now for the latest on this, we check in with CNN's Jeff Flock, who is on flood watch in Davenport, Iowa -- hello there, Jeff.

JEFF FLOCK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Linda. You know, it's no big deal for the FEMA director to come to scene of flood. But in this particular case, as you reported, his critical comments earlier in the week about the fact that Davenport doesn't have a floodwall right where I stand here right now has caused quite a bit of flap.

Let's take you across the way a little bit to where they are awaiting FEMA Director Allbaugh. The cameras are at the ready. Also there, a number of protesters. Some local residents upset about his comments as well as some folks from the Sierra Club.

The organization American Rivers, they're opposed to Bush administration flood policies. They claim that flood control efforts like floodwalls, as well as destruction of wetlands, are what contributes to the mess in the floods, and the policy needs to be changed.

Perhaps you can see right here whatever you want to call it, right at the moment there is a lot of cleanup to do once these floodwaters recede. We can report that the floodwaters have gone down only marginally. And they are expected to remain, as you said, Linda, at fairly high levels for some time.

One last point on the flap over the FEMA director's comments, this morning's "Quad Cities Times" took a look at what various communities, various states, paid out to communities that were repeatedly flooded. They found that over the course of the past 20 years or so, Iowa got about $2.9 million in federal funds for communities that repeatedly flooded. Texas, Mr. Allbaugh's home state as well as the president's, got $495 million. That's $3 million for Iowa, $495 million for Texas. So they seem to think that whatever they're doing here, whether they have a floodwall or not, they seem to be doing something right. I think that's what he is hearing right now because he is out touring as we speak. And, of course, we will have his comments for you when he comes before the microphones later live.

That's the latest from Davenport at this hour. Linda, Leon, back to you.

STOUFFER: Jeff, quick question for you. If not a floodwall, then what? What are some of the thing folks there are talking about to be better prepared for the next time they have a flood?

FLOCK: Well, particularly for the communities, the residential communities that have been affected, the idea is to perhaps buy those folks out and move them away from river. But this downtown area, Davenport seems to be willing to fight a flood like it has done now. They've spent about $1 million so far to fight this flood. When it's over, that will certainly balloon to some degree.

But to put a full floodwall in here, you're talking perhaps $30 million, $40 million, maybe $50 million. And they think that what they do right now in terms of fighting a flood when they get it, but the rest of the time where there isn't flood there is no problem, that seems to make sense.

STOUFFER: Expensive any way you look at it. CNN's Jeff Flock with the latest from Davenport, Iowa, thank you.

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