Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, July 29, 1993 TAG: 9307290095
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: ST. LOUIS LENGTH: Medium
A break in the rainy weather arrived at long last in the waterlogged Midwest, bringing welcome heat and sunshine Wednesday. It even allowed Iowans to haul away sandbags as river waters receded.
"There comes a time when the city has to get back on its feet and you don't want to look like a war zone," said John Bellizzi, public works director of Des Moines, Iowa, which had been without water service for 12 days.
The Midwest's problems are far from over, of course. Residents braced for record river crests this week and next south of Kansas City. Hundreds were evacuated north of Jefferson City, Mo., after flood waters dislodged a propane tank. The death toll rose to 43 with the discovery of a body in Iowa.
Still, relief appears on the way in the form of a rosy forecast. After more than a month of relentless rains, normal weather is returning, thanks to a high pressure area and a shift of the jet stream, said Vince Acquaviva, a National Weather Service meteorologist.
Acquaviva noted potential problems from thunderstorms, but the weather for the next few days at least wasn't "going to be this organized, one-storm-after-another like it used to be," he said. The forecast called for the drier weather to continue at least through Wednesday.
"That's great news," said Gary Dyhouse, hydrologist for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in St. Louis. Such weather will help farmland dry out and allow river levels upstream to continue lowering.
"The crest is still moving down the river and will increase levels by 2 to 3 feet in some areas," said corps spokesman Larry Crump. "We'll probably see a lot more levee damage."
by CNB