Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds toured flood damaged communities in western Iowa Monday with a focus on fixing what went wrong this past spring and doing whatever it takes to guarding against more anticipated flooding next spring.
Reynolds made three stops Monday, including Pacific Junction, which was devastated by the rising flood waters last March.
She got updates on their recovery efforts before heading out to one of the levees currently under repair.
Reynolds tells WOWT-6 News she’ll continue to put pressure on the Corps of Engineers to do whatever it takes to get as many towns as possible protected by March, “Working with the Corps on communication and timely communication and making sure we're getting the communication in a timely manner, especially if an evac is needed. We just weren't timely this last time and we all know. And we need to do a better job. We met with the colonel last week and just again highlighted the concerns we had with that and how it important was the communication was there and expedited in a timely manner."
The governor’s tour came shortly after the Corps of Engineers had a good look at the entire levee system and said the damage really was a worst case scenario but they're still confident they can have all the fixes made by next October.
"Our goal is to be as ready as we can by March of 2020 so we can protect as much as we can," Reynolds says.
Some of those dealing with the 2019 devastation are losing faith. Pacific Junction Mayor Andy Young said, “I'm not expecting anything fantastic happening," he told WOWT-6 News.
Before the floods came, approximately 500 people lived in Pacific Junction but now, “We have close to 25, 26 people and we have close to 40 who might be coming back during the winter or spring."
(Photo: 6 News)