President Bush tours Iowa flooding

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa, June 19 (UPI) -- U.S. President George Bush toured the flood-stricken Iowa communities of Cedar Rapids and Iowa City Thursday as federal officials discussed recovery plans.

Air Force One landed at The Eastern Iowa Airport after 11 a.m. and the president huddled with 50 state, federal, county and local officials at the Emergency Management Operations Center at a local community college, the Cedar Rapids Gazette reported.

Bush, joined by Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, and former Iowa Rep. Jim Nussle, was greeted by Gov. Chet Culver.

"Our job is to listen to what's on your mind … and plan for your recovery," said Bush as he looked at poster-sized photographs of the devastating flooding. "A lot of farmers and cattlemen are hurting along with the city."

The Cedar River, which crested at 31 feet Friday, was at about 17 feet Thursday and receding.

Bush and his entourage boarded Marine One, the president's helicopter, for an aerial tour of southeastern Iowa and a walking tour of Iowa City, where the Iowa River also was dropping.

In Illinois, more levees were overtopped on the Mississippi River, but the city of Quincy got a break as the water level was several feet below predictions because flooding covered farmland, the Chicago Tribune reported.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said the swollen Mississippi was expected to crest at 32 feet at Quincy before dropping. Engineers warned more levees could be threatened around St. Louis.