Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, July 15, 1993 TAG: 9307150210
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: DES MOINES, IOWA LENGTH: Medium
President Clinton visited Des Moines for the second time in 10 days and told flood victims to "hang in there." Clinton hefted a shovel to fill a few sandbags and asked Congress for nearly $2.5 billion in disaster aid.
Elsewhere, the tally of broken levees along the Mississippi and Missouri rivers continued to rise, and smaller waterways also spilled over their banks as slow-moving thunderstorms dumped prodigious amounts of rain.
In Quincy, Ill., sandbag crews tried to save the only bridge connecting the state and Missouri for at least 100 miles in each direction after the Mississippi knocked a 2,000-foot hole through a levee.
"This is just like a war zone," said Quincy Mayor Chuck Scholz. "Coming in from where the levee broke last night, I saw two little girls waiting for the bus, no more than 8 and 10, standing there with shovels in their hands. I just about lost it."
In Dodge City, Kan., flash flooding on low-lying streets from up to 5 inches of rain swept about 15 cars into a heap Tuesday night. Rescuers had to break one car's windows to free a woman and two young children.
"The river is like a full bucket where you pour a cup of water in it and a cup flows out," said Andy Adams of Missouri's Emergency Management Agency.
The flooding, which began more than a month ago, has been blamed for at least 22 deaths, 13 in Missouri. Damage has been put in the billions. About 6,500 National Guardsmen were on duty in Iowa, Illinois and Missouri, where more than 30,000 people have been flooded out of their homes.
Memo: ***CORRECTION***