Page 28 - ARUBA TODAY

A28 SCIENCE
Friday 14 February 2020
Flooding seems certain for some along the Missouri River

By JOSH FUNK ervoirs from overflowing.
Associated Press The Corps estimates 2020
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Sev- runoff will reach 36.3 million
eral states along the Mis- acre-feet (44.8 cubic kilo-
souri River face an elevat- meters) — the ninth highest
ed flood risk this spring be- out of 122 years — so there
cause the soil remains wet will likely be significant wa-
and a significant amount ter releases from the upriv-
of snow is on the ground in er dams.
the Dakotas, the National The highest runoff year was
Weather Service said Thurs- 2011 with 61 million acre-
day. feet (75.2 cubic kilometers),
The forecast heightened followed by 2019, with 60.9
concerns in areas of Ne- million acre-feet (75.1 cu-
braska, Iowa, Kansas and bic kilometers).
Missouri with levees that still Much of the land in low-
have extensive damage lying areas nearest the river
from massive flooding last is cropland, so that often
year and where residents floods first, limiting damage
and officials already antici- to homes and businesses.
pated some flooding. Farmer Gene Walter noted
"We are very concerned at that the private levees that
this point," said Jud Kneu- used to protect his crop-
vean, who oversees emer- This March 18, 2019, file photo, taken by the South Dakota Civil Air Patrol and provided by the land north of Council Bluffs,
gency operations at the Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management shows flooding along the Iowa, remain wide open.
Missouri River in rural Iowa north of Omaha, Neb.
U.S. Army Corps of Engi- Associated Press Repairs won't be complete
neers' Kansas City office. in time for typical spring
The weather service said for so long in some areas Iowa and Kansas before the Dakotas. flooding in March. So it
Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas that officials couldn't even cutting across Missouri and Even if spring weather is could be a day-to-day de-
and Missouri and eastern assess some of the dam- entering the Mississippi Riv- mild, some places could cision for Walter on which
North Dakota and South age until recently. er at St. Louis. The Corps of still see flooding when the acres to plant.
Dakota face an above-av- In Missouri's hard-hit Holt Engineers manages the riv- Corps increases releases "You can't even plan or
erage flood risk this spring. County, where Tom Bullock er's flow using six dams and from upstream dams on make plans," Walter said.
The flood risk is close to nor- serves as emergency man- reservoirs in Montana and the river to prevent the res- "It's kind of upsetting."q
mal in Montana and the agement director, repairs
have not yet started on
western half of the Dako- the levees that broke and Record-setting astronaut feels
tas.
Even in places where the allowed roughly 95,000
Corps has patched holes in acres (38,445.17 hectares) good after near year in space
levees that were damaged of mostly rural land to flood
in last year's flooding, the last spring. hard to hold up my own
level of protection may be "We're not looking very head," she said.
lower than it was because good for spring," Bullock She considers herself lucky
initial repairs haven't all said. she didn't have the sore
been done to the full regu- While most of the breaches feet and burning skin suf-
lar height of the levees. around Hamburg, Iowa, fered four years ago by
Officials say levee repairs have been patched, some NASA's all-time endurance
will likely take two years to repairs probably won't be champ, Scott Kelly, whose
complete. done before spring, said mission lasted 340 days.
The status of levees var- Fremont County Emergen- Koch returned home to
ies greatly. In Iowa and cy Manager Mike Crece- Galveston, Texas, to find a
Nebraska, many of the lius. kitchen full of chips and sal-
major levees have been "It's not a good outlook no sa, something she'd craved
patched, although some matter how you look at it," in orbit, along with the
breaches remain open. In Crecelius said. Gulf of Mexico. She hit the
Kansas and Missouri, much The Missouri is the longest beach with her husband,
of the repair work has yet river in North America, run- In this June 2019 photo made available by NASA, astronaut Bob, and their dog, a res-
to begin. ning from western Mon- Christina Koch poses for a portrait inside of the vestibule between cue pup named LBD for
Part of the problem is that tana through the Dakotas a SpaceX Dragon cargo craft and the Harmony module of the Little Brown Dog, just three
the water remained high and touching Nebraska, International Space Station. days after her landing in
Associated Press Kazakhstan.

By MARCIA DUNN Christina Koch met with re- LBD was excited to see her,
AP Aerospace Writer porters in Houston six days and vice versa.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. after returning to Earth from "I'm not sure who was more
(AP) — NASA's new re- the International Space excited to see the other,"
cord-setting astronaut said Station. Her 328-day mission Koch said.
Wednesday that aside — which ended last Thurs- Their reunion was recorded.
from sore muscles and day — was the longest ever "It's just a symbol of coming
trouble with balance, she's by a woman. back to the people and
readjusting well to gravity Her neck hurt for about a places that you love, to
after nearly 11 months in day. "I felt like a 2-week-old see your favorite animal,"
space. who was actually working she said.q