Operators, farms fight to stay afloat in flooded Midwest

The Midwest’s restaurateurs, foodservice workers and diners, along with farmers there who were struggling to grow precious corn and soybean crops, scrambled this month to salvage property and farm fields inundated by a monumental flooding disaster that submerged millions of acres.

Business as usual was impossible as entire riverfront downtowns were evacuated in such Iowa cities as Cedar Rapids and Waterloo and officials ordered unprecedented closings of parts of Interstate 80 in Iowa,