Over the last two years I estimate that Dave and I have made the round-trip drive between home and Omaha about forty times. This is what we would typically see in those northern Missouri fields, rows and rows of corn.
These are the images we have been seeing since June 15 when the Missouri river escaped its banks and flooded thousands of acres of farmland. The next few pictures were taken driving south on I-29 at about 70 miles per hour just south of Rock Port. (No, I was not driving and taking pictures. Dave was driving, I was snapping photos.) Have I mentioned how much I love my new camera?
It is very hard to get perspective on how wide spread the flooding actually is. The next few pictures were taken on a bluff right at I-29 and highway 136. This is the point where I-29 is shut down going north. From as far as you can see, looking both south and north, water is everywhere. It actually looks like you are viewing the ocean with the exception of the occasional tree, power pole and grain elevator sitting in the middle of the water.
It does appear the water is starting to recede some, but at the rate it is going they are predicting it could be next spring before the water is gone. Life will not be back to normal for the folks who live there for a very long time due to the toll the flood has taken on the fields and the roads. The next picture taken by the Iowa Department of Transportation shows what I-29 looks like now just north of Omaha.
This is not going to be any quick fix. Repairs to the interstate and county roads currently under water could take years. The next two pictures were passed on to me by a co-worker. These fields in Iowa have been farmed by generations of one family. The devastation is unbelievable. Not sure you could recover from this.
The power of nature is breathtaking.