Hinson surveys flooding impact in Marquette and McGregor

By Audrey Posten, Times-Register

Rep. Ashley Hinson visited Marquette and McGregor May 4 to survey areas impacted by Mississippi River flooding, learn how mitigation efforts worked and what her office can do to help communities protect themselves moving forward.

“We were fortunate it didn’t get as high as predicted,” said McGregor Mayor Lyle Troester.

It was a sentiment Marquette Mayor Steve Weipert echoed. “And now it’s dropping a lot quicker than anticipated,” he added.

Both cities said action plans developed over time—which outline what duties need to be completed at specific river heights—were important. They also credited having the right equipment and protective measures, including an automatic sandbagging machine, pumps and HESCO barriers.

“Those sandbagging machines are so helpful. The fire department here has one and, before, we’ve used one Winneshiek County has,” said Clayton County Emergency Management Coordinator Sarah Moser. “We’ve looked at emergency management purchasing one as well, just to have an extra one. With all the flooding in Iowa, it’s not a bad idea.”

In addition to locally-owned pumps, Moser said state asset pumps from Buchanan County and Elkader were enlisted to fight the Mississippi. HESCO barriers erected along the cities’ riverfronts came from Elkader too.

“Their fire department was able to bring them up to communities who needed them. That saves a lot on our backs,” Moser shared. “Elkader has put it up and taken it down multiple times, so they showed them how to do it here. You can’t beat that.”

In McGregor, noted city administrator Lynette McManus, contractors working on the Main Street construction project were also able to help.

“Every city has stuff from somewhere else in northeast Iowa. It’s all worked. We’re very fortunate,” Moser said. “Everything we’ve done over the years, I think, has proven how much has changed with the river. If we have these things done in advance and change every time we have something happen, there are less impacts.”

In this year’s appropriations process, Hinson said she’s requested a flow study to determine how the Mississippi River has changed.

“The river is an evolving creature. If we can’t understand the flows properly, we can’t mitigate properly. I see that as all interconnected,” she stated.

Moser said that would be helpful. It’s one issue she’s brought up with the National Weather Service.

“It’s been a long time since they changed the impacts listed on their website—what’s impacted at what height of the river,” she explained. “We can’t do anything with the gauges on the Mississippi because they are USGS river gauges, but we can change stuff on the Turkey River based on what we see.”

Hinson said her work with the Iowa Flood Center has included assuring gauges are accurate and that officials have necessary tools. 

“This is something I anticipate there will be good bipartisan support for up and down the river. What happens up here impacts what happens in Louisiana. It’s one of the most impactful water bodies we have in America,” she said. “I’m keenly aware of how important it is to commerce and economic development here. You are a river economy, and I want to make sure that’s protected long term and you have what you need to mitigate when things get bad. We can’t control what Mother Nature does, but we can control how prepared we are for it.”

According to Moser, efforts will now turn toward debris removal and assessing the integrity of river banks and boat landings. Both Marquette and McGregor have dikes they would like to evaluate.

Said Weipert, “We have one dike that probably needs a lot of attention, but you’d have to get the Army Corps [of Engineers] involved, and they can only do so much. It’s also kind of on a private piece of property. But if that dike breaks, the whole downtown is going to be flooded.”

Two Corps officials visited Marquette during flood preparation, and city clerk Bonnie Basemann said their input reassured the city it was doing a good job. Marquette would like to see more regular Corps visits, something Hinson noted she could look into.

Troester revealed that, although McGregor’s dike was put in by the Corps, it was not certified. 

“It’s just an earthen dike. That’s a little worrisome down the road. It didn’t get up to test it that much,” he said.

“We also put an agreement in place with the Corps just in case the water would be against that earthen dike for a long time. The concern there was any weak spots,” said McManus.

Unfortunately, added McGregor Deputy City Clerk and Economic Development Lead Brandi Crozier, the Corps couldn’t spring into action until the governor issued a disaster proclamation. That left the community in a time crunch.

“We were hitting that high level that day. Had we needed to use them to come in and help secure a levy, it probably would have been too late,” Crozier said.

Another entity city officials addressed was the railroad. Moser called Canadian Pacific a great partner. Even before the BNSF derailment across the river, she said CP met with Marquette, McGregor and Clayton to address flooding.

“They said, right off the bat, ‘We want to protect your town, but we want to keep going,’” Basemann shared. “They worked really well with the city.”

According to Troester, CP raised the tracks between 10 to 14 inches to continue operating as water rose. That affected all three McGregor crossings, but none more so than at the foot of Main Street, at the boat launch. Now the city is concerned when—or even if—those crossings will be adjusted. Officials have been recording conversations with the railroad to hold them to verbal commitments.

“We’re concerned about accessibility across the tracks once we’re able to open that back up. Their intention is they would like to leave the tracks raised. We’re not sure how that can be possible,” Crozier said. “They’ve been offering a lot of verbal commitments that they will make it right. We’re hopeful they do. We have a lot at stake.”

Added Troester, “We have new marina owners who have invested hundreds of thousands of dollars into a business, and that’s the only access, so it’s kind of scary. They kind of do whatever they wish—the railroad. So that’s a big question mark.”

Hinson vowed to take a look at the situation if there is a federal nexus there.

“I want to make sure we do whatever we can to protect that investment because that is your economy,” she said.