DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Gov. Terry Branstad is heading back to western Iowa to check on flooding along the Missouri River.

His office says the governor and Derek Hill, the administrator of the Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management, will be in Hamburg Wednesday morning to tour a secondary levee where workers are racing to add several feet to the top.

Branstad and Hill will hold a news conference after their tour.

(DES MOINES) – The Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management Division (HSEMD) will be conducting joint damage assessments with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and local officials as a result of flooding which began on May 25, 2011.

Teams will conduct joint preliminary damage assessments (PDAs) beginning June 16 for the federal Public Assistance program. The teams conducting the PDAs will be comprised of representatives from state, local and federal governments.

Public Assistance joint PDA teams will review damage in six counties along the Missouri River: Fremont, Harrison, Mills, Monona, Pottawattamie and Woodbury. The Public Assistance program provides to public entities and select nonprofit agencies funding to rebuild damaged infrastructure that may include roads, bridges, culverts,
and other public facilities; or to cover costs of emergency protective measures such as construction of temporary levees, berms, dikes, and sandbagging; pumping of trapped floodwaters that threaten improved property; emergency medical services; activation of a State or local emergency operations center; and emergency
evacuations of medical and custodial care facilities.

Data from the joint PDAs could be used by Governor Branstad to request a Presidential Disaster Declaration, which, if granted, would make Public Assistance funding available in the designated counties. In order to request a Presidential Disaster Declaration, damages incurred must meet criteria set by the federal government.

“We need to do what we can to help these communities now, so they won’t have to wait months for any possible federal assistance,” said HSEMD Administrator J. Derek Hill. The Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management Division is responsible for the coordination of State disaster response and recovery activities. HSEMD has staffed the State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC) since June 1, 2011. As of June 10, the
SEOC has also been staffed by personnel from the Iowa National Guard, the State departments of Human Services, Public Safety, Transportation, Natural Resources, and other agencies as appropriate.

For further information on the disaster process and the current situation in Western Iowa, visit http://www.iowahomelandsecurity.org

I-29 in Fremont County near Hamburg: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is extending a flood barrier in this area that includes a portion of I-29. The right lane of northbound I-29 is closed for a half-mile section while work on the barrier wall is underway.

Iowa 333 in Hamburg: Iowa 333 is closed from I-29 into Hamburg. Access to Hamburg is currently available via U.S. 275.

I-29 near Hamburg in Fremont County: A full breach in the levee in Atchison County, Mo., occurred Monday. I-29 is expected to become inundated with flood waters in the next 24-48 hours.

The Lake Manawa State Park campground has been closed through August due to safety concerns that the levee holding the Missouri River back will not withstand the pressure over the expected eight weeks of flooding.  The park will remain open for day use until there is direct evidence the levee will not hold. Kevin Szcodronski, chief of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources State Parks Bureau says “If the levee were to breech, there would be little time to evacuate the campers so we decided to take the cautious approach and close the campground,” said.  

Szcodronski said the DNR is in the process of notifying campers holding the 125 reservations at Lake Manawa with arrivals between Tuesday and Aug. 31 of its closure and refunding their money.  Lake Manawa has 36 electric and 35 non electric campsites. Lake Manawa is the third state park that will be impacted by the Missouri River.  The DNR has closed Wilson Island, also in Pottawattamie County, and Lewis and Clark State Park in Monona County. Nearby state parks Waubonsie, Viking Lake, Lake Anita, Prairie Rose, Stone and Black Hawk will likely see increases in attendance due to the park closures. 

Szcodronski said “The domino effect will be that other nearby parks will likely absorb campers who would normally be going to one of the closed parks that will in turn make it more difficult to find a campsite for the rest of this summer and likely into 2012.  Campers should also consider one of our fine county parks in the area.” 

Szcodronski said the three popular parks draw about 66,000 campers per year.  Lake Manawa State Park hosts an estimated 1.5 million park visits per year, the highest total in the Iowa state park system.

w/ News Director Ric Hanson

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Authorities in Page County say a vehicle reported stolen this morning in Page County was found just before 1-p.m. today at 180th and F Avenue, in Montgomery County. The car, a white 2000 Buick Regal, was stolen from a residence on Highway 48 between Shenandoah and Essex sometime between 9:30-p.m. Monday and 6:30-a.m today (Tuesday).

The incident remains under investigation.

Officials with the Atlantic YMCA say swimming lessons at the Sunnyside Pool have been moved to the Y for today.

Public hearings will be held during the Atlantic City Council meeting Wednesday evening, with regard to a proposed Development and Minimum Assessment Agreement between the City and Boulders Inn and Suites, and a proposed internal advance and loan to fund a $125,000 incentive grant for the company, to be funded through the City‘s Economic Development Fund.

City Administrator Doug Harris will report to the Council Wednesday, that negotiations have been completed, and the Finance Committee has reviewed the package. The Committee will recommend the Council approve both agreements, which have been signed by Boulders’ officials after more than a year’s delay.

Under the agreements, the City would provider Boulders’ developers with a $125,000 up-front grant, and a total of $41,000 in tax rebates, for a total incentive package of $166,000, which is $59,000 less than what was initially offered in May, 2010. Because the City had incurred additional legal costs associated with the agreement, the total price tag comes to $247,464, which is slightly less than what was offered last May, but the Tax Increment Financing savings to the City will be a little more than $48,000.

Harris says Boulders has agreed to a minimum taxable value, which protects the City against a potential State imposed commercial property assessment rollback, until 2022. The tax rebates, according to Harris, will be $41,000, spread over nine-years, rather than $100,000, spread over a period of four-years. He says the City will also capture the incremental increase in the value on the land, which had increased by over $60,000, due to its conversion from agricultural to commercial zoning.

Harris says the changes will enable the City to capture over half the TIF revenues generated from the project, which will enable Atlantic to fund much needed street improvements.

Following the public hearings, Wednesday, the City Council will act on resolutions approving the agreements and internal advance for the incentives package. Their meeting at City Hall, begins at 5:30-p.m.

Officials in Council Bluffs say a flood evacuation plan is in-place for about half of Council Bluffs, with a three-tier warning system ready to tell residents when to prepare a bag to flee and when to leave their homes.

At a press conference Monday, officials said they hope the plan, which covers up to 30,000 people, will never be needed, that the levees along the swollen Missouri River will hold for the next two-plus months, and that homes and businesses in western Council Bluffs will remain dry.

Council Bluffs’ three-tier warnings will be sent out through local media outlets and National Weather Service alerts.

A Level 1 Alert means a slowly developing flood event is in the area, and the city recommends residents prepare to leave, including packing a bag.

A Level 2 Alert means a levee is failing and residents are urged to leave.

And, a Level 3 Alert indicated dangerous flooding is on the way. A mandatory evacuation is now in effect. Tornado sirens will sound.

The city has more than 60 buses available to help. People who need transportation are urged to limit their personal belongings to one bag and two pets. Pets must be leashed and in a carrier. Any residents who may need help evacuating in the event of a Level 3 Alert, are urged to call the city at 712-328-4672.

In addition to the media and National Weather Service broadcasts, residents can sign up for automated telephone calls through the city of Council Bluff’s “Code Red” program. Sign-up is available on the city’s website. Those without computers can call 712-328-4672 to register for the calls.