The June 2008 Midwestern United States floods were flooding events which affected portions of the Midwestern United States. After months of heavy precipitation, a number of rivers overflowed their banks for several weeks at a time and broke through levees at numerous locations. Flooding continued into July. States affected by the flooding included Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri and Wisconsin. The American Red Cross assisted the victims of flooding and tornadoes across seven states and the National Guard was mobilized to assist in disaster relief and evacuation.
Flooding continued as long as two weeks with central Iowa and Cedar Rapids being hardest hit. The upper Mississippi Valley experienced flooding in Missouri and Illinois as the region's estuaries drained the floodwater into the river. The flood left thirteen dead and damage region-wide was estimated to be in the tens of billions of dollars.
Illinois
On June 11, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich deemed Clark, Coles, Crawford, Cumberland, Jasper and Lawrence counties as disaster areas. Levee breaks on June 10 flooded portions of Lawrence County near Lawrenceville, inundating a campsite and forcing the evacuations of 200 homes.
On June 14 many communities located along the Mississippi River in West Central Illinois were notified by the National Weather Service that crests along the river would exceed the record crests of 1993.
On the early morning of June 14, the town of Oquawka, Illinois, was evacuated, due to a levee breach along the swollen Iowa River. The city council believed this would affect the flood waters in the already flooding Mississippi River. The same day two levees broke near the town of Keithsburg, Illinois, flooding the entire town.
On the morning of June 15, a levee along the Mississippi River in the town of Gulfport failed, flooding most of the town. Two more levees were breached by flood waters in western Illinois on June 18. The breaches flooded farmland near Meyer and forced an evacuation of the town.
More than $7.2 million in federal disaster assistance grants and loans were approved by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Small Business Administration for Illinois residents who suffered damages and losses.
Indiana
Central and southwestern Indiana was particularly hard hit by flooding along the Ohio River and its tributaries; damages were expected to make the flooding the costliest disaster in the history of the state. Starting on June 4, 2008, rain soaked parts of south-central Indiana, leading to initial floods in and around Bloomington. Additional rain on June 7 brought the worst of the flooding to larger portions of south-central and western Indiana. The highest recorded rainfall was in the town of Edinburgh, which saw of rain in seven hours. Paragon had of rain in just a few hours, leaving 90% of the town underwater.
Some parts of the state had flood levels exceeding records set in 1913. On June 9, President George W. Bush declared 29 counties in central Indiana a major disaster area, enabling the region to receive federal aid and Federal Emergency Management Agency assistance.
Impact
Many low-lying areas of central and northern Indiana were evacuated because of the rapid rise of the waters. Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels declared a state of emergency in 23 counties and called in the United States Coast Guard to assist in evacuations and rescues. The Coast Guard responded by sending two helicopters to the state along with boats and personnel. The Indiana National Guard was called out to assist in evacuation and direct traffic and enforce road blocks on the many flooded roads. Some areas of southern Indianapolis, where the White River was several feet past flood stage, were evacuated. This included a hospital with one hundred patients and doctors. The Coast Guard continued to rescue trapped citizens on June 8. In Franklin, Indiana water rose as high as the first floor of Johnson Memorial Hospital. Doctors and patients were also evacuated from Columbus Regional Hospital in Columbus, Indiana. The hospital had to remain closed for an extended period of time because of power outages, generator failures, and extensive flood damage. It was expected to resume operations between September and December 2008, although emergency services began more quickly. All patients were evacuated and moved to nearby hospitals. One hundred and fifty people were evacuated from a nursing home in Morgan County.