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I-80 threatened by flooding in eastern Iowa

William Petroski
bpetrosk@dmreg.com

Flooding on the Cedar River in eastern Iowa is being closely watched by state officials, who worry that rapidly rising waters threaten a possible shutdown of Interstate Highway 80 in Cedar County.

The Iowa Department of Transportation said it is monitoring the status of I-80, Iowa’s busiest route for interstate travelers and commercial truck drivers. DOT Director Paul Trombino told reporters Monday that Intersate Highway 380 through downtown Cedar Rapids is expected to remain open, despite the second-highest flood crest ever forecast for the city. But further downstream, I-80 is being closely watched because it has been closed by flooding in the past, he said.

"We won't know until probably first thing on Wednesday morning because it seems like the flow has slowed down a little bit. But the flow is also dropping so that is good news," Trombino said. "So I won't have that answer, but that is one of the areas that we will monitor as we go forward."

Iowa flooding 2016: What we know

I-80 was closed in both eastbound and westbound lanes in Cedar County during widespread flooding that struck eastern Iowa in 2008. Traffic at the time was detoured north to U.S. Highway 30, which required additional travel time for truck drivers and other motorists. The stretch of I-80 at risk for flooding is about 20 miles east of Iowa City.

Trombino said the state's highway bridge on I-80 over the Cedar River is not the problem. He said water tends to move into the ditches along the sides of the highway and then it will creep into the roadway. As the water rises, it tends to get into the shoulders and then potentially into the traffic lanes, he explained.

Brenda Neville, president of the Iowa Motor Truck Association, a trade group for the state's trucking industry, said anytime a major corridor is closed, it impacts truck traffic

"But trucking is always nimble and will do what it can to have a minimal amount of disruption," Neville said. "Additionally, with the technology that many trucking companies use, they are already working on alternative routing due to impending flood issues ... again, all in an effort to minimize disruption and delays in delivery."

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Trombino discussed the closure of Iowa's highways because of flooding at a news briefing Monday at Iowa National Guard headquarters at Camp Dodge in Johnston. He was joined by Gov. Terry Branstad, Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds; Maj. Gen. Tim Orr, adjutant general of the Iowa National Guard; and Mark Schouten, director of the Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.

Branstad said he has signed a proclamation of disaster emergency for an additional four counties: Cerro Gordo, Hancock, Mitchell and Worth. He previously designated 13 other counties as disaster areas, providing state resources for recovery efforts as well as assistance to individuals. Branstad and Reynolds said they planned to visit Charles City and Greene on Monday to check on flood damage.

"We just want to be there and let them know that we want to do whatever we can to help them in flood-recovery efforts," Branstad said.

Orr said that 412 Iowa National Guard troops are being mobilized because of Iowa flooding, which is significantly less than in 2008, when more than 4,000 Iowa National Guard soldiers and airmen assisted with the state's response to widespread flooding across a much larger area of Iowa. He also said an Iowa National Guard reconnaissance plane has been flying over areas affected by flooding to shoot video that will provide valuable data to government officials about the disaster.

FLOODING RESOURCES

FLOOD 2016 COVERAGE:

MORE:  Evacuation map

Truck traffic on Interstate Highway 80 near Mitchellville.