Iowa’s only nuclear power plant is in Palo, near Cedar Rapids, but another one is located just across the now-flooding Missouri River in Fort Calhoun, Nebraska. Mike Jones is spokesman for the Fort Calhoun nuclear power plant and says they’re ready for any threat from the rising waterway.

We are trying to be prepared in case there is any flooding down the road here,” Jones says. “We have sandbagged some areas. We have filled a number of sandbags in case they are needed in other areas.” Jones says they’re taking a number of steps to protect potential danger zones.

“We’ve moved some equipment,” Jones says. “We’ve looked to make sure our flood gates are ready in case we need them. We are trying to be pro-active and be in a state of readiness.” In light of all that happened in Japan a few months ago when a power plant was washed over by a tsunami, Jones says people in eastern Nebraska and western Iowa don’t have to worry about any type of nuclear disaster here. He notes, the plant isn’t even running at the moment.

Jones says, “The plant is in a refueling outage so it is not operating but we want to be prepared should we be completed by the time the river goes back down to make sure we’re able to operate.” He says they’re keeping a careful watch on the Missouri River, which may continue rising into mid-June.

Jones says, “The best thing that we can do right now is what everyone else is doing and that is to keep a very close eye on the river and if it starts to rise, to make sure we are taking the appropriate steps.” The Fort Calhoun plant is reportedly designed to handle 14-to-15 additional feet of water from the current stage.

(Matt Kelley/Radio Iowa)

MISSOURI VALLEY, Iowa (AP) — Charlie Wisecup began to collect antique farm equipment in 1981. Twenty years and more than 100 machines later, he opened up Wisecup’s Farm Museum in 2001.

“This started because of my love of farming,” said Wisecup, 75. “It was my hobby. Once I started collecting, you get two or three items, and then you want to have four. Then you start thinking you ought to preserve the past.

“I want to have it here for future generations.”

Wisecup’s Farm Museum, 1200 Canal St. off of U.S. Highway 30 in Missouri Valley, features more than 100 tractors and farm implements, ranging in model years from the early 1900s through the 1960s. Two barns house memorabilia from the late 1800s and early 1900s.

During a tour of the museum, president and former curator Russ Zack explained each and every item, leaving out no details.

“This here is an old steel wheel tractor from the 1920s. Double fuel, it ran on kerosene and gasoline. About 17 horsepower,” he said. “About the same as a lawnmower. And the tractor moves just as fast.”

Zack, 30, starts many sentences with “This here is” or “Oh, I should tell you about this.” His passion for the museum shines through, a product of his upbringing on a Woodbine farm.

“I never fit into the city crowd. I grew up with this. It’s familiar to me,” he said, adding about the importance of the museum: “I want to help preserve the past. People have to be reminded every once in a while where we come from.”

The north barn at the museum features “rooms” with antique household items, including a dining room, kitchen, parlor, bedroom and more. The museum holds a few country music events in the barn each year.

“This is a barn, so you’ll see frogs and spiders and bugs and birds,” Zack said as the tour began. “I kick them out at night.”

The south barn features old-time shops, including a doctor’s office, surveyor’s office and mercantile store. A replica one-room schoolhouse is nearby. New items include a refurbished U-diesel Minneapolis-Moline from the 1950s and a native prairie enclosure. A replica church is under construction.

A 1962 Minneapolis-Moline tractor outside runs on propane. Zack starts the machine up, turning the tank knob to get the propane flowing.

“Whew, stinky,” he said.

Zack estimated that about 80 percent of the tractors at the museum still run.

Wisecup grew up on the museum grounds. He farmed with his father, Art, and eventually took over. They used Minneapolis-Moline machinery, Wisecup said.

In 1981, his aunt gave him a 1947 Minneapolis-Moline “Z” tractor, which started his collection of antique farm equipment, though he began collecting in earnest in 1991.

Friend Bob Hansen, a Crescent farmer, helped teach him how to restore the old tractors, while another friend, Ray Wright of Missouri Valley, helped him paint.

“It turned into a neighborhood thing,” Wisecup said. “In the winter time, guys would show up at the shop and help me work on my tractors.”

The museum grew out of his collection.

“The location makes it nice,” Wisecup said of his Highway 30 digs. “The museum kind of turned into what it is by itself.”

The farmland is now tilled by Wisecup’s son, Lee, with the museum providing an eclectic fa�ade. Much of what’s displayed was donated to Wisecup over the years.

“A lot of the stuff I had out there, a lot of people gave it to me because they didn’t want their family to take it to the junkyard or the iron man,” he said. “They’d rather see it preserved.”

Wisecup told the story of a corn sheller that showed up at the museum one day. He said it took about three months to figure out who had donated the machine.

“Anytime you show up there’s a possibility something new will be there,” Wisecup said.

A spokesman for Iowa’s governor calls the Missouri River flooding “an increasingly serious situation.” And the National Weather Service warns Interstate 29 would be flooded if a weakened levee in far southwest Iowa fails

Officials issued a mandatory evacuation order for about half of the town of Hamburg, Iowa, on Sunday — forcing about 600 residents to leave because of problems with a levee south of town. Derek Hill, head of the Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management division, described the breach as a “boil” — a hole of less than an inch-and-a-half in diameter. It created a small geyser of water that began spraying onto the dry side of the levee. This geyser or boil was found about two miles south of the Iowa/Missouri border, but Hill says the water would flow back into Hamburg if the levee fails. “Because of the topography there — it’s fairly flat land; there’s not a lot of elevation change — and the hydrologists explained that’s more than likely the direction the water would flow,” Hill says. A Black Hawk helicopter was dispatched Sunday to the levee, which is about five miles southwest of Hamburg. One-thousand pound sandbags were dropped from the helicopter in hopes of plugging the hole. Hill briefed reporters by phone on Sunday afternoon.

“You use a helicopter rather than putting personnel on the level because of the danger of a…larger levee breach at that time,” Hill says. Hill has seen maps which indicate the Missouri may flood as far as two miles into Iowa at some locations.

“So the Missouri River, at a few points, is going to be extremely broad,” Hill said. Hill is urging Iowans to move all their belongings to higher ground if they’re within the predicted flood zone. The water will stay for weeks, in some cases months, and Hill says not only will mold begin to grow on the structure of a home, but even items which are above the water line in a home will begin to get moldy as well.

“This water is coming,” Hill said. “…The people that live within the inundation area need to be talking to their county officials as to how deep the water is going to be. Is there a way to mitigate against that water or do they need to be moving?” According to Hill, there are about 30-thousand Iowans who live in rural areas — outside of cities or towns — in the six Iowa counties that are in the flood zone.

“If they have vehicles or farm equipment that are out there, or anhydrous tanks, they need to be moving them to higher ground so they’re not floating down river,” Hill said. Propane tanks also need to be tethered down or moved out of the flood zone.

(O. Kay Henderson/Radio Iowa; 4:54-p.m.)

Members of the CAM Community School District’s Interim Board of Education will meet Monday evening at the CAM High School Media Center.

On the agenda for the 7-p.m. session, is discussion and/or action on: resignations; various Board policies; Contracts for high school Special Ed and custodians’ positions, along an Administrative Assistant contracts; a Preschool special education agreement; contract modifications for Shelli Miller and Jennifer Berns; 2011-2012 School Calendar revisions, and curriculum changes.

Emergency Management officials in Pottawattamie County report several sources are available to keep current on expected flood conditions and preparedness efforts. Citizens can stay up to date on flood information by dialing 211.

In addition, web pages have been established at www.pottcounty.com and www.councilbluffs-ia.gov. You can also find information from Pottawattamie County Emergency Management on Facebook. The web resources will provide up to date information on the situation, preparedness activities and links to other useful sites.

A local call center for residents of Council Bluffs, Pottawattamie County and other affected communities will begin operations on Monday, June 6, 2011 from 8am until 5pm. The number of the call center will be 712-328-4672.

Iowa is using a Blackhawk helicopter to drop 1,000-pound sandbags on a levee leak that threatens to flood a community in the southwestern part of the state. Gen. Derek Hill of the Iowa Department of Homeland Security says sandbags were being dropped Sunday on a leak in a levee in Atchison County, Mo. He says it was too dangerous to use ground crews for the work.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reported Sunday morning there was a breach in a Missouri River levee that could flood Hamburg, Iowa. The city is about five miles north of the leak, and Hill says the land in that area is flat and the leaking water is expected to flow back into Hamburg.

The leak has forced the evacuation of 600 Hamburg residents.