Iowa's Floods: A Midwestern Katrina?

About 100 miles to the west, Des Moines was dealing with its first major flooding Saturday as water poured out of the Des Moines River and into a small neighborhood north of downtown.

Even as the river slowly recedes, officials in Cedar Rapids worried that the city's supply of fresh drinking water would run out. Only one of the city's half-dozen wells was working, and it was protected by sandbags and pumps powered by generators.

Preliminary damages estimates in Cedar Rapids reached $737 million, and officials foresee a long recovery.

"It's a bit overwhelming ... " said the city's mayor pro-tem, Brian Fagan. "This is an endurance competition. We have to be patient. We have to be cooperative."

At least 438 city blocks were under water in Cedar Rapids, a city of 120,000.

In Des Moines, a levee ruptured early Saturday and allowed the Des Moines River to pour into an area near downtown, and a mandatory evacuation was ordered for 270 homes, authorities said. Many residents of the area already had left after a voluntary evacuation request was issued Friday.

"This is our version of Katrina," Johnson County Emergency Management spokesman Mike Sullivan said. "This is the worst flooding we've ever seen — much worse than 1993," when much of the Midwest was hit by record flooding

Gov. Chet Culver declared 83 of the state's 99 counties disaster areas, a designation that helps speed aid and opens the way for loans and grants.

So that means that Bush should be out there to help in , oh... two weeks or so.