There are a lot of flood stories floating around.

In Austin, Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department workers kept watering the petunias last week … even on days when it rained, according to eyewitnesses.

The most heart-warming story may have been the work done by parishioners and other volunteers to save Queen of Angels Catholic Church. Sandbaggers protected Cunningham Hall and the other church facilities from high flood waters which washed over Dreisner and Austin Noon Lions parks east of the church, threatening the house of worship.

Meanwhile, rural residents along Mower County CSAH No. 29 south of the city were frustrated by high waters and inaction at 2 crossroad intersections.

After 11 flood events in 30 years and two “Flood of the Century” events in the last four years, no mitigation there.

It could be worse, judging by news sources elsewhere.

Flooded farm fields in central Illinois and across the Midwest helped drive corn prices to a record high for the fourth day in a row June 10, and analysts warned it could mean higher prices at the supermarket later this year.

A flurry of reports said a cool, wet spring followed by the past week’s floods could cut corn and soybean yields by as much as 50 percent in some areas, putting additional pressure on already record-high corn prices.

In Iowa, the top U.S. soybean state, up to 10 percent of the crop may have to be replanted — and that’s on top of the 16 percent of the crop that has yet to get in the fields.

Torrential rains have swept across the Midwest, the key growing region in the world’s top producer, causing floods that have destroyed homes as well as thousands of acres of corn and soybeans.

“It’s the worst in recent memory, at a time when demand has never been higher,” said Gavin Maguire, analyst with Iowa Grain in Chicago.

“We have lower (corn) acres to begin with, and now we have to expect a lower yield because of the bad growing season. So it all spells tighter corn supplies down the road,” he said.

More than 30 tornadoes were reported last Wednesday across Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa and Minnesota, some accompanied by baseball-sized hail. Four teenagers at a Boy Scout camp in Iowa and two people in Kansas were killed by tornadoes.

The storms also produced 0.75 to 2.5 inches or rain, with heavier amounts in some localized areas.

At the Chicago Board of Trade, front-month July corn settled 5-3/4 cents higher at $7.

To replant or not to replant?

There are growers in Mower County, dreaming of $7 a bushel corn, who now face some nightmarish situations.

For instance, to replant crops?

“Any corn that stands in a flooded field for a couple of days or longer is gone,” said Jeff Irvin, manager of Northern Country Co-op elevators at Lansing and Oakland. “Soybeans could still be replanted if everything dries out satisfactorily, but flooded corn is gone.

“Of course, whether or not to replant or plant new beans is a tough question to answer,” added Irvin, “because of the cost of inputs and fuel.”

It was expensive enough to plant crops this spring and since that time gasoline and other prices have gone upwards again.

Irvin concurred with Northern Country agronomist Jon Hillier, who said he estimates the crop loss at between 10 and 15 percent.

“It’s not as bad as it was in 2004,” said Hillier, “but it’s bad enough.”

Irvin said there is a lot of standing water in farm fields; particularly along U.S. Highway 218 between Austin and Blooming Prairie.

Washed out corn is lost now, but corn yields may be affected at harvest this fall, the pair said.

“What we need is for some dry weather and all those creeks and rivers to empty out so they can handle more runoff from farm fields,” said Hillier.

While city residents are insulated from the rain and flood damages in the countryside, others make it their business to know.

Matt Taylor, technician for the Mower County Soil and Waters Conservation District, said it was too early to assess damages to conservation practices.

While strong, rushing waters could cause erosion, that is most likely to occur in fields along major rivers and streams running through the county, according to Taylor.

He estimated the filter strips and wetlands practices could withstand both the rainfall totals and the flooding of last week.

Like the others, Taylor said the latest flood event wasn’t “nearly as bad as the September 2004 flood.”

Kirk Phelps, county executive director for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency in Mower County, is still making his own assessment of damages in the countryside.

“It’s really hard to tell at this time,” Phelps said. “It will take time to make a good assessment.”

Phelps said his personal investigation revealed the most damages are located in the northwest quarter of Mower County,

“There’s a lot of standing water in the fields on either side of Highway 218 all the way to Blooming Prairie,” he said.

“We know there are crops lost now, but what we don’t know is how these rains and flooding will effect yields in the Fall,” he said.

The Minnesota Extension Service has a wealth of information on flood cleanup both in homes and to flowers, plants and garden vegetables.

It is available online at www.extension.umn.edu and click on the “Weather Impact” link.

Regional Extension educator Jayne Hager Dee also shared the most common and necessary “recipe” for flood cleanup work in homes: One cup bleach to one gallon water will remove mold and mildew from surfaces covered by flood water.

For more cleanup information, call Jan Olson at the Mower County Extension Service office, 437-9552.