Midwest Flooding Impacts African-American Museum in Iowa, but Many Black Areas Spared

By: Sherrel Wheeler Stewart, BlackAmericaWeb.com

The African-American Museum of Iowa sits on a hill above the Cedar River in Des Moines, but higher ground wasn’t enough to shield it from raging floods.

The executive director and staff haven’t been allowed inside the museum since water began sweeping through the facility and much of downtown Des Moines last week.

“We know we took a significant hit,” Executive Director Tom Moore told BlackAmericaWeb.com. “We hope to get in by the end of this week just to take a look. We probably will be displaced at least six months while the facility is restored.”

Since the floods began in Iowa, other states along the Mississippi River have been hit as hard record rains cause waterways to swell and levees breach.

Storms and flooding across six states this month have killed 24 people, injured 148 and caused more than $1.5 billion in estimated damage in Iowa alone -- a figure that's likely to increase as river levels climb in Missouri and Illinois.

Midwest Flooding Impacts African-American Museum in Iowa, but Many Black Areas Spared