By Michael Conlon CHICAGO, June 24 (Reuters) - Midwest governors pleaded with the White House on Tuesday for more help to counter billions of dollars in damages from floods that drowned parts of the U.S. farm heartland and drove thousands from their homes. The request came as the flood threat in a key region of the world's biggest food and grains exporter continued to ease, though another levee in Missouri burst early on Tuesday sending the swollen Mississippi River into a relatively small, unpopulated area. In Indiana, Governor Mitch Daniels said the heavy rains that began at the end of May likely triggered "the worst agriculture disaster in state history," with one in every 10 acres of corn and soybeans lost at a cost of at least $800 million. Across the region up to 5 million acres (2 mln hectares) of corn and soybeans may have been lost, fueling worries that world food inflation will worsen even as energy prices set records. Iowa Governor Chet Culver said his state suffered by conservative estimates "billions of dollars in damages" of all types, with more than 38,000 residents displaced. Culver, Daniels and the governors of Wisconsin and Illinois made the comments in a letter to President George W. Bush asking him to lower the amount of money the states have to put up to match federal assistance, saying the disasters have pushed their budgets to the breaking point. They requested that the state share of such assistance be set at 10 percent -- with Washington paying the other 90 percent -- instead of 25 percent local and 75 percent federal as usually required. It was not immediately clear how much federal money the states would ultimately get under either formula. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in St. Louis said the Mississippi River had crested upstream and would do the same farther south during the week. But flood fighters were still piling sandbags on a weakened levee near Winfield, Missouri, north of St. Louis and a second levee in the same region failed during the night, flooding a soccer field and a sod farm. Summer classes at the University of Iowa resumed on Monday with more than 10,000 students picking their way around more than 20 buildings or other facilities that remained closed from flooding along the Iowa River. Officials said the disruptions could continue into the autumn when the campus swells to more than 30,000 students. Among other things a major riverside dormitory housing more than 1,000 students will not be opened for the fall term, the said. In Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where more than 9 square miles (23.31 sq km) of homes and businesses were damaged or destroyed, the clean up is just getting started in the downtown area where the power was still out. Huge generators provided electricity but underground electrical vaults were still under water "Because of the mixture of all the different things that were in the water, including raw sewage and gasoline, the smell is just terrible," said Lee Clancey, president of the Cedar Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce. "The recovery workers have to wear masks because of the carbon monoxide that's being let off by all the generators and pumps that are working." "Honestly, the biggest issue we have right now is an inability to pick up all of the piles and mountains of garbage that have been accumulated as a result of people clearing out their businesses," he added. (Additional reporting by Kay Henderson in Des Moines; editing by Anthony Boadle)
An aerial view shows rice paddies submerged in floodwaters days after Typhoon Fengshen hit Iloilo City in central Philippines June 24, 2008. The Philippines said on Tuesday that damage to paddy ...
