(Radio Iowa) – The southwest Iowa town of Hamburg is taking an important step in the continuing recovery from the 2019 Missouri River flooding. A groundbreaking ceremony will be held at 11 A-M Wednesday, for a major levee rehabilitation project. Hamburg Mayor Cathy Crain says the reinforced levee will be raised eight feet which will help the community in three primary ways.  “The first is building that three-mile levee, and building it that tall, which means that it’s going to be over a hundred feet wide,” Crain says. “In addition to that, the DOT is going to be raising the two roads that go through the levee to the very same height as the levee.”

Aerial photo of Hamburg – Ditch 6 shows scope of damage from the flooding. Photo taken Mar. 17, 2019. – US Army Corps of Engineers photo

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials and the city signed a project agreement in February to allow raising the levee, significantly increasing the flood risk management benefits the levee provides the city. The expansion is the first project in the nation to utilize the authority to raise the height of a federal levee system. Floodwaters over-topped and severely damaged the levee two years ago, leading to significant flooding in Hamburg. In addition, Crain says the Iowa Department of Transportation is building another levee southwest of Interstate 29 to prevent water from swamping the interstate, as it did two years ago.

(Updated) – Yet another case of a motorist traveling in excess of 100-mph has been reported in Iowa. Iowa State Patrol Trooper Ryan Devault told KJAN news a Trooper tweeted an image of a radar clocking a motorist on Interstate 29 in Fremont County, traveling at 107 mph.

It was the first triple digit speeder of the week, according to Devault. So what was the motorist’s excuse?

ISP radar pic via Trooper Ryan Devault (Twitter)

Trooper Devault says incidents of persons traveling in excess of 100 miles per hour began occurring in 2020, when COVID kept more people off the roads.

Now that the number of cases of COVID are declining and people are feeling more confident about hitting the road, Devault says less people are speeding, but those authorities to see, are blatantly in violation of the law.

Over the past year, motorists have been clocked speeding as high as the low 140’s in some cases. Trooper Devault reminds motorists there are stiff penalties that go along excessive speeds, and the fine is only one part of the price you’ll pay.

Insurance rates also go up dramatically. Devault says while you’re on the road, keep a close eye for motorcyclists. As the weather gets warmer, the two-wheel and three-wheel machines will be on the pavement, and they can be hard to see. He advises you turn your head to make sure they aren’t beside you when you switch lanes, and keep on eye on your rearview mirror, to see if they are approaching.

The Iowa Department of Public health Tuesday, reported 389 new COVID-19 positive tests, but there were no additional deaths.  The health department reports 395,738 total positive tests, and 5,959 total deaths since the start of the pandemic.

Iowa reports 2.39-million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered and 1.1-million total vaccine series completed. The state’s 14-day positivity rate is 4.0%. The seven-day rate is 4.2%. Both are unchanged from Monday.

Hospitalizations across the state jumped from181 on Monday to 195 on Tuesday. Iowa reports also: there are 48 patients in ICU (3 more than on Monday); 34 people with symptoms of COVID were admitted (an increase of four), and, 23 patients are on ventilators (3 more than last reported). In RMCC Region 4 (hospitals in western/southwest Iowa), the numbers are lower than on Monday. There are 13 COVID patients hospitalized; six remain in an ICU; there no new admissions of people with symptoms of the virus, and one person remains on a ventilator.

One of Iowa’s long-term care facilities is reporting a COVID-19 outbreak. The Urbandale Care Center is back on the IDPH radar, with 19 additional positive cases and 17 recoveries. The state reports 2,320 care facility deaths since the pandemic began, that’s unchanged from Monday.

In the KJAN listening area, here are the current number positive cases by County; The # of new cases since yesterday {+} if any; and the total number of deaths in each county to date:

Cass, 1,458 cases; {+3}; 54 deaths
Adair, 979; {+0}; 32
Adams, 349 {+0}; 4
Audubon, 519 {+3}; 9
Guthrie, 1,285 {+1}; 29
Harrison County, 1,923; {+0}; 73
Madison County, 1,736; {+10; 19
Mills County, 1,781; {+2}; 21
Montgomery, 1,102;{+2}; 37
Pottawattamie County, 12,110; {+23}; 165
Shelby County, 1,362 {+2}; 37
Union County, 1,355; {+0}; 32