I live in the extreme S.E. part of Iowa,near the Missouri & Illinois border on the Mississippi river and Des Moines river.We've been getting a lot of rain,but because the town sets on a bluff we aren't getting much flood damage.We can't get to Missouri because the Des Moines river is over the roads in Missouri.We can't get to Illinois for the same reason.North of us about 40 miles or so,the Skunk river is out of its banks (or so I've heard).We are an island surrounded by water.This happens every few years so we are kind of use to it.In the flood of 93 we were an island,too.We couldn't get food delivered to local grocery stores or gas delivered to gas stations.Finaly,a construction company in Illinois that owns a rock quarry decided that he would supply enough gravel to raise the roadbed on the Illinois side of the bridge.Once he did that,our bridge was the only bridge that was open between St.Louis,Mo. and The Quad Cities,a distance of almost 300 miles.This year the Illinois department of transportation is doing the same thing,so we won't be an island.
Just to keep this lottery related,if I win the Powerball drawing tonight,I won't be able to collect until the water recedes because theres no way to get to Des Moines from here.Cedar Rapids is under water so I can't even cash in a scratch off ticket at the regional lottery office there.