Green Island residents fight off flood waters even after river crest

GREEN ISLAND, Iowa (KWQC) - Despite the Mississippi River cresting over the weekend in Bellevue some residents in the unincorporated parts of Jackson County are still facing rising water.

According to residents, a sandbag levy breached in a ditch on Green Island over the weekend, flooding the streets of the rural community.

On Saturday the Mississippi upriver from the community at 21.78 feet. The unincorporated town is about three blocks long and near the confluence of the Maquoketa River and the Mississippi.

One resident, Alan Small spent Tuesday locating and filling more sandbags. He said many had to drive to Sabula to get supplies.

“[The water] was trickling through the sandbags,” Small said. “At about 10 o’clock I drove my truck through there. There was no more sandbags it was just all water rushing through there and this place filled up in less than four hours. "

Small grew up hunting and fishing in the rural town eventually moving there permanently. He said this flood season he feels ignored by response officials.

“I like this place. It’s worth living here,” Small said. “A little response from our county would have been helpful.”

Down the street, the Luttons along with friends filled up sandbags Tuesday evening as water approaches their backyard.

“I’m used to being surrounded by cornfields and everything else, and I look out and it’s all a river so kind of crazy,” Lee Lutton said. “We got some sandbags over here and just kind of bagging up the important stuff trying to keep the water at ease, so it doesn’t get too far in.”

One of the younger family members, Madison Lutton, said she’s never seen it get like this.

“That’s pretty awesome to see, like all the water,” Lutton said. “It’s a little scary knowing that my room could flood.”

TV6 News reached out to the Jackson County Emergency Management Agency in regards to the issues on Green Island, however, no one was available for comment Tuesday afternoon.

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