MUSCATINE, Iowa — Muscatine crews continue their clean up on the riverfront as they spray mud off the sidewalks at Riverside Park.
Access to the park has been closed off for around three weeks as flood waters covered the parking lots and grassy areas.
Muscatine Communications Manager Kevin Jenison said crews' first step to make sure the park is safe.
"Our first priority isn't to get everything washed down the best we can," Jenison said, "to limit the amount of dust that the traffic can stir up. That's not a good dust to breath in so that's a safety concern and a health issue."
Jenison said once the road and riverfront are cleaned, they'll open up the park. It's a situation the city of Muscatine is used to.
"The people of course are used to the floods around here," Jenison said. "A lot of the redesigns of the park and Mississippi drive have helped to alleviate some the issues we had initially."
Jenison said those redesigns include changing the layout of the park over the years, to force floodwaters to one consolidated area.
But volunteers in Muscatine will help out, as community members are being asked to help lay new mulch and flowers throughout the park on Aug. 6. Jenison said there is plenty of work to do in the park.
"But you know you can just look around and some of the grassy areas and the flowerbeds and the stuff that's just gonna have to be raked off and cleaned some to get them back to what they were before the floods."
Crews expect the clean up to be completed early next week.
The community clean-up day is set for Aug. 6. It will start in the morning at 8 a.m. and go until 3 p.m.