Many hands make light work, and that is what the United Way of Muscatine County and the city of Muscatine hope will happen as they look for volunteers to clean up the Muscatine riverfront after the 2024 flood. The public cleanup will be from 8 a.m.
to 3 p.m. Tuesday, Aug.
6. Volunteers are asked to meet at the Riverview Center. Volunteers will work with city employees to remove silt from various areas and clean up the landscape beds on the riverfront.
“We're looking forward to coming together as a community to restore our riverfront to the beautiful place we all enjoy,” said Hilary Henke, community engagement manager for the United Way of Muscatine. Kevin Jenison, City of Muscatine communications director, said United Way had offered to hold the volunteer day to help the city recover from the flood. While he said no survey of the damage from the flood has been done yet, anyone looking at the riverfront can tell many of the grassy areas will need to be cleaned up and the flower beds will need to be cleaned.
He said the city’s Parks and Recreation Department will take care of repairs and cleaning to the parking areas. The Mississippi River went over flood stage in late June and crested at 21.48 feet on July 10, according to the National Weather Service.
While recent heavy rains have slowed the decline of the water, much of the Riverside Park area is no longer under flood waters. The river is forecast to go below flood stage sometime this week. Riverside Park remains close.