5/31/2011- 7:43 p.m.
Dear Siouxland Business Leaders –
First and foremost, we wish to communicate to all of you that our thoughts and prayers are with our entire regional community as we confront a very serious situation related to the projected flooding of the Missouri River. In keeping with the caliber and character of the exceptional people of this community, at this very hour, I am looking out my office window and can see dozens of volunteers filling sandbags in the Tyson Events Center parking lot.
That said, we all recognize that there is a great deal of information and some “misinformation” circulating in the community and we want to do everything we can to ensure that you have access to factual and timely information. To this end, the Chamber of Commerce and The Siouxland Initiative will do everything we can to ensure that our business community is provided with the most accurate and up to date information available. Therefore, we will only forward information from the proper federal, state, and local authorities and we will work to get this information to you as quickly as possible.
Additionally, after consulting with officials in Iowa, Nebraska, and South Dakota at nearly every level of government, including a late afternoon meeting with the City of Sioux City’s senior leadership team regarding this situation, we are communicating that while government officials are doing everything in their power to help our citizens and communities avert this crisis, you must take proactive action to protect your individual personal and professional interests. These officials acknowledge that the dynamics of this situation evolved very rapidly over the weekend and this event has the potential to do so again. Thus, based on your particular type of business and specific location, please take whatever proactive steps you believe are necessary and prudent under these challenging circumstances.
Furthermore, please note that even the “worst case scenario” predictions are based upon average rainfalls for this time of year and there are many factors, including heavy rainfall (locally or up river) that have the potential to alter these projections.
Below you will find several websites that will prove invaluable, but may be prove difficult to access as they are undergoing heavy utilization at this time. Finally, our local news media continues to make every effort to communicate information accurately and rapidly and their respective websites are excellent resources as well.
Army Corps of Engineers Flood Response Information Page:
http://www.nwo.usace.army.mil/html/op-e/flood.html
Army Corps of Engineers Inundation Maps:
http://www.nwo.usace.army.mil/html/op-e/maps.html
National Weather Service Actual and Projected Missouri River Levels
http://water.weather.gov/ahps2/hydrograph.php?wfo=fsd&gage=sscn1&view=1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1
Dakota Dunes – Disaster Recovery
http://www.dakotadunes.com/DISASTERRECOVERY.cfm
South Sioux City will keep updates posted at:
http://www.southsiouxcity.org/
Sioux City will keep updates posted at:
https://www.sioux-city.org/news
Sergeant Bluff Information
http://www.cityofsergeantbluff.com/
North Sioux City Information –
http://www.northsiouxcity-sd.gov/
The State of South Dakota’s Flood Information Site:
http://www.disasterrecovery.sd.gov/flood_info.aspx
Dakota Dunes and McCook Lake Area Inundation Map:
http://www.disasterrecovery.sd.gov/maps/SEUnionCoGOVMap.pdf
South Sioux City Area Inundation Map:
http://www.southsiouxcity.org/egov/docs/1306852533_959472.jpg
Twitter- Use hashtag #suxfloods or click on the link to see up to date information without an account
http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23suxfloods
Siouxland Flooding Facebook Group- Up to the minute updates and volunteer needs – must have Facebook account
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_214651221891093&ap=1
Siouxland Chamber Facebook information – Facebook account NOT required
http://www.facebook.com/SiouxlandChamberofCommerce?sk=wall
Christopher J. McGowan, President Siouxland Chamber of Commerce & The Siouxland Initiative
