Losing Iowa

I realize that Tim Russert's death has hit the country like the sad senseless tragedy of Princess Diana's death or Clarabell. But maybe we can do something about the fact that we are losing more American cities to flooding.

Rain is expected through the weekend in Iowa, where floodwaters have deluged much of the state. The city of Cedar Rapids is hardest hit. More than 400 city blocks are under water and more than 3,000 homes have been evacuated.

One hundred miles to the southwest, officials have issued a voluntary evacuation order for much of downtown Des Moines. The mayor of the state's capital and largest city calls the evacuations an attempt "to err on the side of citizens and residents."

Iowa's governor has declared 83 of the state's 99 counties to be state disaster areas. Nine rivers are at or above historic flood levels. Relief may come next week, when the weather in Iowa is predicted to be sunny and dry.

Flooding is also widespread in parts of Michigan and Wisconsin. --AP

Maybe the National Guard and the Reserves can be called in... oh.. wait...