While most of the media watches the terrible flood waters spawned by Irene begin to recede, and wonders about Tropical Storm Lee’s rain around New Orleans, those of us along the Missouri River continue to deal with record flooding. It’s been over two months since portions of Interstate 29 in NW Missouri were closed, and they’re still under water.

Iowa Republican Congressman Tom Latham came back and viewed the damage in Council Bluffs, and was surprised by what he saw.

It’s no surprise to those of us along the river, Congressman. We’ve been looking at it all summer, and we’re just hoping it’s gone by Halloween.

The flood of waters continues, but as usual during a natural disaster, the flood of rumors is rolling right along with it. Mythical levee breaches compete with imaginary government policy decisions, all of which combine to try to drive those who are dealing with the actual flooding bonkers.

And don’t even get me started about a Fukushima-style disaster in Nebraska . . . Get a link, people — and it ought to be from someone closer to Nebraska than Hawaii.

Rumors flow faster than the water during a disaster like this. The folks who are working on protecting homes, businesses, and communities have enough to do without having to beat back rumors — but this, too, is part of dealing with a disaster.