Floods still big issue for Midwest

JOHNSTON, IA Secretary Bill Northey also says the crops that remain will produce smaller yields. The impact will be felt by livestock operations, too, and could send some farms under.

Meanwhile, scientists are worrying that floodwaters, full of various toxins, will increase the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico as they flow down and out of the Mississippi River. That's what happened after the 1993 Midwest floods.

And freight traffic headed down the Mississippi has come to a standstill. More than 100 barges are still stranded on parts of the river, waiting for the water level to drop. It's costing barge operators tens of thousands of dollars in lost revenue per day.