(Hamburg, IA) The southwest Iowa town of Hamburg is taking an important step in the continuing recovery from the 2019 Missouri River flooding. A groundbreaking ceremony will be held at 11:00 a-m today (Wednesday) for a major levee rehabilitation project. Hamburg Mayor Cathy Crain says the reinforced levee will be raised eight feet. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials and the city signed a project agreement in February to allow raising the levee, significantly increasing the flood risk management benefits the levee provides the city. The expansion is the first project in the nation to utilize the authority to raise the height of a federal levee system. Floodwaters overtopped and severely damaged the levee two years ago, leading to significant flooding in Hamburg. In addition, Crain says the Iowa Department of Transportation is building another levee southwest of Interstate 29 to prevent water from swamping the interstate, as it did two years ago.
