The Journal Times Online - Racine, Wisconsin

Earlier in the week Racine was on the national news with the flooding of the Root River and today it's Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

A city of about 124,000 residents in eastern Iowa, my daughter is interning this summer on her college campus, about 20 minutes east of Cedar Rapids.

She made a half dozen calls to us yesterday, keeping us posted on the storm--which was pounding the Milwaukee area at the same time it was outside her dorm room, 260 miles away.

Fortunately, her campus is on a hill, and the little town of 3,300 has no flooding. They opened a dorm building to house evacuees from a college in Cedar Rapids that had to close some dorms due to the floods. 

A half hour to the south of my daughter's campus lies the University of Iowa (the Hawkeyes, the UW-Madison Badgers' rival) in Iowa City, is located on the Iowa River. Their website's home page is now filled with "Flood Information" and notices of cancelled sports camps, rescheduled orientation days and freshman visits and building closures.

Cities throughout the Midwest are having horrific floods (just look at some of the blogs on our website).

If you're doing a "staycation" this year and not heading far from home, at least pull out your atlas and learn a little geography this summer.

I know I am.