Bush pledges help for Iowa floods

Residents have been laying down sandbags to shore up flood defences

US President George W Bush has promised immediate help to Iowa state which has been affected by severe flooding, during a tour of the region.

About $4bn (£2bn) in emergency funds is being made available, officials said.

Some 35,000 people have been evacuated because of the floods, and 24 people have been killed.

Rains have washed out millions of acres of farm land in the US corn-belt, raising the likelihood that soaring food prices could go even higher.

"I know a lot of farmers and cattlemen are hurting right now," said President Bush at an emergency centre in Cedar Rapids, among the cities hit hardest by this month's flooding.

"Obviously, to the extent we can help immediately, we will help," he added before taking a helicopter tour of flooded areas.

Click here for a map of flood-affected areas

President Bush's fellow Republican, presidential candidate John McCain also visited the region.

Flood defences

The floods have also seen bridges and highways swamped, factories shut down, water and power utilities damaged.

During the president's trip, the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema), David Paulison said the $4bn currently in the agency's Disaster Relief Fund should be "more than enough" to provide aid.

In Washington, lawmakers debated a bill which contained an additional $2.65bn (£1.4bn).

Observers said the eventual cost of the disaster could end up matching that of the 1993 Midwest floods that caused more than $20bn (£10bn) worth of damage.

Meanwhile, officials say as many as 30 more levees could overflow this week, officials say, threatening industrial and agricultural areas vulnerable but leaving large population hubs unaffected.

So far this week, 20 levees have been breached.

Some 700 members of the National Guard have been deployed in Missouri to assist in the defence efforts, while in Illinois, 1,100 National Guard troops have been helping out.

Residents in the affected areas have been laying sandbags to bolster flood defences.

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