Flooding in Iowa has reached unprecedented levels. All eyes were on the state capital of Des Moines early this weekend, where levees threatened to give way along the rising Des Moines River . There had already been some minor flooding in parts of downtown Des Moines, but overall the levee system did a good job of protecting Iowa ’s largest city from flood waters, with one exception. Early Saturday, a levee protecting the Birdland neighborhood on the north side of Des Moines gave way, flooding nearly 200 homes and 35 businesses. Fortunately, most of the area’s residents had already evacuated when the flooding started, and officials worked quickly to remove the few remaining people from their homes. The Des Moines River has already crested, and water levels are beginning to fall. However, the situation is much worse further east in the state.

Cedar Rapids, Iowa is a city similar in size to Waco . When the Cedar River crested 19 feet above flood stage Friday, it inundated nearly 430 blocks of Iowa ’s second-largest city. More than 25,000 people have been forced to evacuate their homes, and many have no idea when they’ll be able to return – or what they’ll find when they do. Although the water is beginning to recede, the Cedar River is expected to remain above flood stage through at least June 24th. Officials say the floods have already done more than $700 million in damage – and that’s just in Cedar Rapids alone.

Just 25 miles to the south, residents of Iowa City are still bracing for the worst. Water along the Iowa River is already nine feet above flood stage and still rising. On Saturday, thousands of students and volunteers participated in a massive sandbagging operation to protect the University of Iowa campus from the rising floodwaters. At least 19 campus buildings were either already taking on water or in danger of flooding. All but one of the bridges linking Iowa City ’s east and west sides were closed on Saturday, and officials feared the last bridge would have to be closed by the end of the weekend. Worse yet, the rising Iowa River could force the closure of the city’s last remaining link to Interstate 80.

I-80 is already closed due to high water about 20 miles east of Iowa City , and may not reopen for several days. That forces traffic on the busy east-west thoroughfare to take a nearly 100-mile long detour. Dozens of other federal and state highways are closed because of the high water. Some may not reopen for weeks.

Officials in Iowa have likened the disaster to Hurricane Katrina. Granted, Katrina affected far more people over a much larger area. However, considering this kind of flooding is probably the most devastating disaster that could affect the state of Iowa , it might be a fair comparison. Damage will total in the billions of dollars, and it will take years for parts of the state to fully recover.

In my nearly 23 years of existence, I can never remember seeing a spring with this much widespread devastation across the Midwest and Great Plains . I doubt this year’s flooding will go on record as being worse than the Great Flood of 1993. Although water levels in some areas have exceeded the records set 15 years ago, the devastation is not as widespread as it was in 1993. However, unlike 1993, this year has also seen an incredible number of tornadoes, and unfortunately, a substantial number of tornado fatalities. Through June 10th, there have been more than 1,500 tornadoes reported across the , resulting in 118 fatalities. Although the actual number of tornadoes is substantially lower (that 1,500 figure doesn’t take into account duplicate or false reports), we know for certain that this tornado season will go on record as the deadliest since 1998.