Mississippi River reaches crest, local businesses say they’re thankful for 2023 flood mitigation efforts

DAVENPORT, Iowa (KWQC) – The Mississippi River has reached its crest right here within the Quad Cities, and though 2023′s ranges didn’t surpass 2019′s ranges, this flood can be one for the file books, even rating within the high 10 Quad Cities Mississippi River file floods.

Because the river reaches its highest stage within the Quad Cities, one native enterprise shares why they’re grateful for the flood mitigation efforts that the Metropolis of Davenport has put in place for the flood of 2023.

In 2019, the very best crest of the Mississippi was recorded at 22.7 toes, and that is when the Hesco limitations broke, inflicting main flood harm to quite a few downtown Davenport companies.

In earlier years, based on hydrologist’s data the Mississippi River within the Quad Cities has seen equally high-crest ranges like in 1993 when the river reached 22.63 toes, and in 1868 when the river reached 22.0 toes.

However as for the flood of 2023, the Mississippi River will rank across the seventh or eighth spot for file flood ranges, with the crest being a minimum of, 21.51 toes.

This yr, Metropolis of Davenport officers stated that they took what they discovered from the flood of 2019 to insure that the Hesco limitations might stand up to 2023′s flood.

Entrance Road Brewery, an area enterprise positioned alongside River Drive in Davenport, says that they’re no stranger to the Mississippi flooding, because the 30 years that they’ve been in enterprise.

Nevertheless, Entrance Road Brewery’s homeowners say that the flood mitigation efforts put in place by the Metropolis of Davenport after the 2019 flood have confirmed to be efficient this go round.

“All we might do at that time was cross our fingers that they might work,” stated Entrance Road Brewery Co-Proprietor. “And right here we’re in 2023 with almost the degrees of flood waters that we skilled in 2019, and I’m blissful to say that each of our buildings have held up effectively and executed precisely what they’re speculated to do. All of the measures we took to mitigate potential harm, with or with no breach have proved to achieve success and allowed us to remain open.”

However, simply because the Mississippi River has reached crest-level doesn’t imply that these companies are within the clear, consultants say. It is going to nonetheless take awhile, a minimum of till mid to late Could for the river to go down beneath flood stage.

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