Global Eye: Iowa Flooding

Mississippi Rising

Photographer: Scott Rodenburg of Bettendorf, Iowa

Getting the Shot: This photo was taken from the Davenport, Iowa, Skybridge overlooking 2008 flood waters of the Mississippi River. In an effort to save the natural view of the Mississippi River, Davenport has yet to build a flood wall to protect the city. Each time the river floods, it cost the city hundreds of thousands of dollars. This flood will be in the forefront of future city council meetings. The perspective of this shot truly shows both beauty and devastation. The stillness of the water has a surreal feel to it.

The Details: This shot was taken on a tripod with the camera set at 200 ISO. I took five individual shots adjusting the shutter speed after each shot, starting from 1/2 a second all the way to 15 seconds for the last exposure. Then the images were layered in the Photomatix HDR program.

Born and bred in Davenport, I know all too well the complex issue the area grapples with each time the Big Muddy rises. Flooding causes millions of dollars of damage, yes, but can you monetize the beauty of an unobstructed view of the Mighty Mississippi? Sound off in the comments below, or add your photos to our Flickr pool.

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Comments

[Noah]

Oh, Iowa...very, very sad.

However, it should be mentioned that another reason for not building a levy is that levies upriver make flooding downriver worse by keeping flood-level waters contained and continuing onward. Admittedly, that's probably not the main reason most riverside cities opt not to build flood walls, but the whole thing becomes a tough collective action problem when you try to come up with a good solution to the upriver/downriver effects.

[Prêt à Voyager]

Beautiful shot for a tough situation. I was there a few years ago to run the Bix-7. Doesn't look like much running can happen until that water goes down...

Anne

[bret]

The whole flood thing in Iowa is kind of surreal, as Cedar Rapids is my home town. Living in Arizona, 1900 miles away, I was starting to feel helpless while watching the coverage. So, I put together on a website.

http://www.saveiowa.org/

It lists all the donation efforts nation wide, and also acts as a flood information repository with over 200 news stories linked on the site. it is a work in progress. I am passing it along, as I came across this site in my research efforts.

Normally, I wouldn't spam like this, but its not every day your sister loses her house and your home town suffers a billion dollars in damages. So, I can handle looking a little cheesy to help some people out.

Thanks for taking a look and for at least considering.

Bret
[email protected]
[email protected]

[Angel]

I really enjoyed reading this article, thank you. Some very interesting points to think about. It would be great, if you're interested, to share this at www.iloho.com. It's an online tool for travelers where you can post the best travel news and articles on the web and then vote for your favorites.

[Kayne]

How about a diversion spillway? It worked for us in Grand Forks ND after 97.