http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/49095/story.htm
(((In order to imagine food prices going down, you have to hypothesize weather problems receding and fuel prices lower. And if ending a war is supposed to patch that, you have to imagine that starvation and a climate crisis doesn't cause other military emergencies elsewhere.
Is that plausible?)))
Link: Planet Ark : Midwest Floodwaters Falling, Costs Rising .
(...)
The Midwest storms and torrential rains have killed at least 24 people since late May. More than 38,000 people have been driven from their homes, mostly in Iowa where 83 of 99 counties have been declared disaster areas.
Fears that as many as 5 million acres of corn and soybeans have been lost to flooding in the world's largest grain and food exporter pushed corn and livestock prices to record highs in the last week.
The ripple inflation effect on global food prices as US prices soar has alarmed everyone from central bankers to food aid groups. Fears that livestock herds will be culled because of soaring corn feed prices may push meat prices up for years.
Flood aid and relief issues also poured into the political arena.
Democratic Party presidential candidate Barack Obama said Saturday that Midwest levee breaks and flood damage were reasons to back his US$60 billion spending proposal to modernize US roads, bridges and waterways. Much of that would be financed by downsizing US commitments in Iraq, he said.
Iowa Gov. Chet Culver has estimated 45,000 square miles of his state had been hit by tornadoes or flooding, including 340 towns, with extensive damage to road and rail lines at a cost of "tens of billions of dollars."
Chemicals from farm fields and other toxic substances left behind as waters recede have created a potential health threat. Damaged municipal sewage systems in places like Cedar Rapids, Iowa, were releasing raw sewage into rivers. But drinking water supplies remain unpolluted in most areas, officials said.
In Cedar Rapids, where officials have said 4,000 homes were damaged by this month's flooding, government buyout plans estimated at US$80 million or more were under discussion.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has 43 disaster recovery centers open across the flooded areas of Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Indiana, Wisconsin and Minnesota....
