Axne Said Hamburg Flooding Shows Need For Federal Funds To Improve Local Levees

Washington D.C. — Iowa House Representative Cindy Axne and Nebraska Congressman Don Bacon are co-sponsoring a bill intended to help towns like Hamburg, Iowa, deal with flood threats.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers increased the height of a levee, known locally as the West Ditch,” to keep floodwaters out of the town in the flood of 2011. The levee was returned to its original height after the flood because the city did not have the money to pay for the soil that was borrowed from nearby landowners.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, a Democrat from New York, joins the Democrat Axne and Republican Bacon in supporting  “The Local Expertise is Vital for Effective Embankments (LEVEE) Act.”

The bill would would allow the Army Corps of Engineers to begin preconstruction on levee improvements without waiting for congressional approval if a project is determined to be critical to flood prevention and cost less than $25 million.

The legislation would also provide full federal funding for projects in flood-prone areas.

“No town should have to worry that federal red tape stands between them and a devastating flood,” said Rep. Axne. “What we saw in Hamburg earlier this year proves that we must do something to allow the Corps to act faster and provide full federal funding for flood-prone areas. Our local and on-the-ground experts need to be listened to. I’m proud that this bipartisan, bicameral legislation does just that and addresses this critical issue for Southwest Iowa.”

In 2011, residents of Hamburg, Iowa worked the Army Corps of Engineers to construct makeshift emergency additions to a levee to combat rising flood waters. The levee saved the town from floodwaters, but was determined to be not adequate enough to be made permanent without changes. After Hamburg could not come up with the funds to make the changes, the additions to the levee were removed.

“Last spring, Nebraska experienced the worst flooding since 2011," said Rep. Bacon. "Many homes, businesses, livestock and dreams were lost. Under this bill, the Army Corps would be allowed to evaluate repeated and potential areas of flooding and construct levees to prevent such disasters from occurring again. We must take the proper actions to protect communities from future floods and this legislation does just that.”