Littleport, Iowa

When I began Air Nice-to-Livelands, I was living in the town of Littleport in North East Cambridgeshire. In that linked post, I briefly mentioned our then-house being located on a lower level to the levees holding back the Ouse. Naturally, while my family and I lived there we were worried about potential flooding, but fortunately, nothing ever happened during our time there and nothing has happened since. However, back in 1999, the tiny city of Littleport, Iowa, which is mostly unrelated to the Littleport, Cambridgeshire, was destroyed by a flood.

There is little (no pun intended) available about Iowa's Littleport beyond its destruction. The place hasn't ever had a large population, and in 2005, it lost its city status, resulting in it becoming an unincorporated community; it was already a dying town prior to the flood. It had a population of 26 in 2000, and the only 2010 census information I could find said that Littleport was no longer inhabited. While I have never been to Littleport, nor have I been to or near Iowa, but I can't help feel a touch of sadness for the place. Humans once lived there and now it's another one of the many ghost towns littered across the United States.

The two Littleports have nothing in common except the name and the potential to flood. The Littleport in Iowa was on the decline for decades, with barely over two dozen people living there when it flooded. By contrast, the Littleport in Cambridgeshire is a thriving town with nearly 9,000 people as of 2011 — an increase in population from the decade before. It's unlikely to meet the same fate as its Iowa namesake, for the name is merely a coincidence, but it's always wise to be prepared...just in case.