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Floods Ravage the Midwest
Extreme storms have states in the Midwest under water. It began in early June with heavy rain in Iowa. The constant downpour eventually saturated the soil. That means that the dirt in the ground just couldn't hold any more rain. Once that happens, the water stays on ground. Rivers flooded too, and miles and miles of farmland turned into lakes.
Many rivers in the Midwest have mounds of dirt called levees along their banks. They were built to keep the rivers from flooding. But the levees can only do so much. Since early June, the storms haven't stopped. The Mississippi River ran over 22 levees, which could flood 285,000 acres of crops in Dubuque, Iowa.
Illinois is another state that's getting very wet. Levees in Gulfport, Illinois burst last week. That surprised people because the government said the levees were strong enough to stop a flood. Now the town is underwater and the people who live there are wet and upset.
It's not just houses and buildings that have taken damage from the floods. The Midwest is home to many farms that grow crops like corn and soybeans. The floods have destroyed the crops, and it looks like there won't be enough time in the growing season left to replant. So food prices will rise this fall, just like the water rose this spring.
I'm Ben and that's what happened in our nation this week.
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