Part 2
--------------
I-29 near the peak of the flood level.
“The government and the people running it are just so stupid. I’m a dam expert now. I could tell you a lot of things that would be very easy to keep this from happening again,” Finch says. “In 2011 when it flooded, it was a walk in the park. There was plenty of notice that the dams were full and they were opening them up.”
Finch notes that this time around, policies involving the various dams and levees along the Missouri River — and the reasons for releasing or storing water at various points — was a complete failure, as the damage and financial losses, nevermind the loss of human life and wildlife, was greater than those for which the policies were enacted to protect in the first place.
The current flooding, with one to two feet of water standing on the property.
“We could have spent a million dollars transplanting birds and wildlife someplace else instead of the Missouri River, but we have spent billions now, and that’s not even the tip of the iceberg. I think Iowa is going to surpass the numbers they’ve published. And people are going to be on waiting lists forever to rebuild their homes. We don’t even have enough equipment to clean up all the trash in Iowa. It was all just the perfect storm of factors.”
“I lost a couple million dollars between my home and the track,” Finch continues. “All of my equipment and my belongings, a bunch of my paperwork and records, it’s all gone. The IRS …my documents for them are all floating down at their Saint Louis office somewhere.”