Midwest flooding hits communities and food prices hard | 06.18.2008 | 14:03:04 | Views: 7824 | ID: June 18 '08: Flood waters from the Mississippi River are working their way south to communities in Illinois, Missouri and other states CNN reported. The destruction from the severe storms over the Midwest have caused large-scale evacuations, as well as causing a surge in global food prices. Meanwhile, Reuters reported that fuel costs will likely rise due to damage to corn crops which produce ethanol used as an additive in gasoline. According to the cable news channel, floodwater from the Mississippi "will cover thousands of acres of farmland from Warsaw to Quincy, about a 25-mile stretch of the river. ... In Adams County alone," CNN reported, "water from the breached levees flooded about 30,000 acres of farmland, according to Julie Shepard of Adams County Emergency Management Agency." The Associated Press reported, "Twenty levees have already overflowed this week, the Army Corps of Engineers said. The other levees could overflow if sandbagging efforts fail to raise the levees' levels. The levees in danger protect rural, industrial and agricultural areas - not heavily populated towns. Levees protecting large towns are not as at risk of overflowing, officials said." However, the AP continued, "As many as 30 more levees may overflow along the Mississippi River from Burlington, Iowa down to St. Louis, the government said Wednesday." Since June 6 there have been 24 deaths and 148 injuries from the storms. Officials in Cedar Rapids, Iowa are asking residents to conserve fresh drinking water while local responder officials work to reopen areas of the town which were inundated. The city also has posted a map of the 500-year flood area. Weather officials said that more rain is forecast for the Midwest but that the severe storms should not add to the already flooded rivers in the region.
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