More rain possible in deluged Midwest as flooding breaches levees in Iowa
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Floodwaters breached levees in western Iowa on Tuesday, creating dangerous conditions that prompted evacuations as the deluged Midwest faced another round of severe storms forecast for later in the day.
The sheriff’s office in Monona County, south of Sioux City near the Nebraska border, said the Little Sioux River breached levees in several areas. Evacuation orders were issued and roads closed in two small towns, emergency management officials said. No injuries were immediately reported.
“Please stay out of the area for your safety,” the sheriff’s office said in a social media post.
Patrick Prorok, emergency management coordinator in Monona County, described waking people in Rodney, a town of about 45 people, to recommend evacuation about 4 a.m. Later Tuesday morning, the water hadn’t yet washed into the community.
“People up the hill are saying it is coming our way,” Prorok said.
Iowa state transportation officials said they planned to close sections of I-29 and I-680 north of Council Bluffs Tuesday because of rising floodwaters.
The flooding has damaged roads and bridges, closed or destroyed businesses, required hospitals and nursing homes to evacuate, and left cities without power or safe drinking water, the governors of Iowa and South Dakota said. Officials reported hundreds of water rescues.
Severe storms were forecast for Tuesday afternoon and evening with large hail, damaging winds and even a brief tornado or two in parts of western Iowa and eastern Nebraska, according to the National Weather Service. Showers and storms were also possible in parts of South Dakota and Minnesota, the agency said.
The weather service also predicted more than two dozen points of major flooding in southern Minnesota, eastern South Dakota and northern Iowa, and over three dozen points of moderate flooding. Flood warnings are expected to continue into the week.
President Joe Biden approved a major disaster declaration for affected counties in Iowa on Monday, a move that paves the way for federal aid to be granted.
Late Monday in Correctionville, Iowa, the Little Sioux River rose to nearly 31 feet (9.5 meters), about 12 feet (3.7 meters) above flood stage, according to the National Weather Service. About a quarter to a third of residents had evacuated Monday, mayor pro-tem Nathan Heilman said, with homes on the west and south sides of town most affected.
On Tuesday, Heilman said the water was slowly starting to recede, potentially aided by a levee breach downstream.
“That makes everything feel a little bit better,” he said. But there’s still a lot “we’re just kind of waiting to see.”
The flooding in the region, which affected areas from Omaha, Nebraska, to St. Paul Minnesota also came during a vast, persistent heat wave. Dangerous hot, muggy weather was expected again Tuesday around the Omaha area.
Storms last week dumped heavy rains, with as much as 18 inches (46 centimeters) falling south of Sioux Falls, the weather service said.
Places that didn’t get as much rain had to contend with the extra water moving downstream. Many streams, especially with additional rainfall, may not crest until later this week as the floodwaters slowly drain down a web of rivers to the Missouri and Mississippi. The Missouri will crest at Omaha on Thursday, said Kevin Low, a weather service hydrologist.
The heavy rains were blamed in the deaths of at least two people. On Saturday, an Illinois man died while trying to drive around a barricade in Spencer, Iowa. The Little Sioux River swept his truck away, the Clay County Sheriff’s Office said. Officials recovered his body Monday. Another person died in South Dakota, Gov. Kristi Noem said without providing details.
“I’ve never had to evacuate my house,” Hank Howley, a 71-year-old North Sioux City, South Dakota, resident said Monday as she joined others on a levee of the swollen Big Sioux River, where a railroad bridge collapsed a day earlier.
Outside Mankato, Minnesota, the local sheriff’s office said Monday that there was a “partial failure” of the western support structure for the Rapidan Dam on the Blue Earth River after the dam became plugged with debris. Flowing water eroded the western bank.
Eric Weller, emergency management director for the Blue Earth County sheriff, said the bank would likely erode more, but he didn’t expect the concrete dam itself to fail. The two homes downstream were evacuated.
A 2019 Associated Press investigation into dams across the country found that the Rapidan Dam was in fair condition and there likely would be loss of property if it failed. A pair of 2021 studies said repairs would cost upward of $15 million and removal more than $80 million.
___
Collins reported from Hartford, Connecticut, and Beck reported from Omaha, Nebraska.