More rain washes over the Midwest, causing more flooding in Iowa
The Collapse of the Bridge Between North Sioux City and the Iowa City of Okubo, Iowa at 11 PM on Sunday, April 22
Hank Howley said that she had never evacuated her house, even as she and other people were on the levee of the Big Sioux River. She said that they are on the highest point in town and didn’t have to leave in recent days. When the rest of town is flooded, what better thing to do? It makes me nervous.
The bridge connecting North Sioux City, S.D., with the Iowa city ofoux City, Iowa fell into the river at around 11 pm on Sunday. Local media captured images of a partially underwater bridge as flood waters rushed over it.
There were no reports of injuries from the collapse. The bridge’s owner, BNSF Railway, had stopped operating it as a precaution during the flooding, spokesperson Kendall Sloan said. The railroad did not expect the bridge to have a major impact because it was only used by a few trains per day.
New record-high floods in the Big Sioux River, Iowa, and the state of Iowa, a spokeswoman for the Northern Iowa Department of Natural Resources
The Big Sioux River stabilized Monday morning at around 45 feet, over 7 feet higher than the previous record, Sioux City Fire Marshal Mark Aesoph said.
In North Sioux City, the South Dakota Department of Transportation built a berm Sunday night across Interstate 29 to stem flooding, temporarily blocking the major route. In some areas where the interstate was open, water crept onto the road. Howley, who has lived there for 33 years, said she has a growing concern over more frequent severe flooding around I-29.
In the last week, there have been floods in eastern Nebraska and South Dakota as well as heat waves in Iowa and Minnesota. Up to 18 inches of rain have fallen in some areas, and some rivers rose to record levels. Hundreds of people were rescued, homes were damaged and at least two people died after driving in flooded areas.
“I just keep thinking about all this stuff I’ve lost and maybe the little things I could recover that we put up high,” said Aiden Engelkes in the northwestern Iowa community of Spencer, which imposed curfews during flooding that surpassed a record set in 1953.
Over the weekend, teams from Iowa’s natural resources department evacuated families with children and a person using a wheelchair from flooded homes, director Kayla Lyon told reporters. Gov. Kim Reynolds said the department conducted 250 water rescues on Saturday.
More rain is possible in the deluged Midwest as flooding kills 2 and threatens a dam: The Case of Spencer Engelkes
The sheriff’s office said that there was a partial failure in the western support structure of the Rapidan Dam after it plugged with debris. The western bank was eroded by water.
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. Two homes were evacuated.
The Rapidan Dam was found to be in a good condition by an AP investigation and would likely fail if it were to fail. Repairs and removal would both cost upwards of 15 million dollars.
In Spencer, Engelkes still wasn’t able Monday to get back into his apartment on the first floor of a building close to the Des Moines River, nor could he go to work at a flooded chicken hatchery.
He spent more than seven hours Saturday in a friend’s fourth-floor apartment, waiting to be rescued by a boat, his Chevy SUV under roiling waters. Rescuers broke a window in a second-floor stairwell, and almost 70 people were taken away by boat in small groups.
Engelkes and his girlfriend left with a bag of clothes, three cats in a carrier, and a kitten his girlfriend carried in her shirt. Their apartment had about 4 feet of water. They’re now staying with his mother on higher ground.
Source: More rain is possible in the deluged Midwest as flooding kills 2 and threatens a dam
Iowa Flooding after a Diehard Truck Collision in Spencer, Iowa, Two Days after the First Day of Rain: Emergency Management Experts and Emergency Management
The Federal Emergency Management Agency personnel were on the ground in Iowa, and the president’s homeland security team was briefed about the flooding.
On Saturday, an Illinois man died while trying to drive around a barricade in Spencer, Iowa, Sioux City’s KTIV-TV reported Monday. Clay County’s Sheriff’s Office said the truck was swept away by the Little Sioux River. Officials recovered his body Monday.
Places that didn’t get as much rain had to contend with the extra water moving downstream. The water in many of the streams may not crest until later this week because of the flood waters going down to the Missouri and Mississippi. Kevin Low, a weather service hydrologist, said that the Missouri will crest in Omaha.
Flooding in those states has also come during a vast and stubborn heat wave. Some communities hit by flooding were under an excessive heat warning Monday with temperatures approaching 100 degrees Fahrenheit. The weather was expected to be hot again in the Omaha area.
DES MOINES, Iowa — Tornado warnings, flash flooding and large hail added insult to injury for people in the Midwest already contending with heat, humidity and intense flooding after days of rain.
The sheriff’s office in Monona County, near the Nebraska border, said the Little Sioux River breached levees in several areas. In neighboring Woodbury County, the sheriff’s office posted drone video on Facebook showing the river overflowing the levee and flooding land in rural Smithland. No injuries were reported immediately.
The emergency management person in Monona County recommended waking people early in the morning to evacuate the town of Rodney, with about 45 people. The water had not yet washed into the community.
Iowa River Floods Break Levees as More Rain Dump onto Parts of the Midwest: a Report from Tim Cowman
The major rivers in the southeast corner of South Dakota have crested and are dropping, albeit slowly, according to Tim Cowman. By Tuesday, the James was the last of those rivers to crest.
The major disaster declaration was approved by President Biden and will allow for federal aid to be granted.
To the south in Sioux City and Woodbury County, Iowa, officials responded to residents’ complaints that they had received little warning of the flooding and its severity. The rivers crested higher than anticipated, according to the fire marshal.
There was nothing that we could do at this point, even if we knew about it two weeks ago. We cannot extend the entire length of our levee,” Aesoph said. It’s not possible.
Homes on the south side of Spencer, Iowa, near the Little Sioux River are unlivable as water has reached the main floor, resident Ben Thomas said. A lot of people in town are facing a “double whammy,” with homes and businesses affected.
The bridges that were topped by flood water need to be inspected to see if they can reopen to traffic.
Forever Wildlife Lodge and Clinic, a nonprofit animal rescue, in northwest Iowa has answered over 200 calls since the flooding started, said licensed wildlife rehabilitator Amanda Hase.
Hase said that the flooding is “catastrophic for Iowa wildlife, which are getting washed out of dens by debris and separated from each other.” She is one of the people who respond to all kinds of calls about animals.
The crest at the west fork of the Des Moines River in Iowa was expected to be a record. Amid high temperatures and humidity, nearly 68,000 sandbags have been laid, according to county emergency manager Kyle Bissell.
Bissell told reporters Tuesday that there was no water on the streets yet, but flooding had begun in some backyards and was reaching up to foundations. The city is home to nearly 5,000 people.
More than 150,000 homes and businesses were without power in Michigan after severe storms hit less than a week after storms left thousands in the dark in suburban Detroit.
Source: Iowa floodwaters breach levees as even more rain dumps onto parts of the Midwest
Restoring the Saylorville Lake amidst River Surmountings: A State-of-the-Art Alert and State Emergency Management Action Plan
North of Des Moines, Iowa, the lake above the Saylorville Dam was absorbing river surge and expected to largely protect the metro area from flooding, according to the Polk County Emergency Management Agency. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers projected Tuesday that water levels at Saylorville Lake will rise by more than 30 feet by the Fourth of July.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Tuesday cautioned against rebuilding too fast, instead emphasizing more sustainable repairs that could prevent or mitigate future flooding.
“Nature doesn’t care whether you believe in climate change or not,” Walz said. The insurance companies definitely believe in it. The actuarials sure believe in it, and we do.”
Flooding in parts of US’ Midwest has killed at least 13 people, officials said on Wednesday. The death toll was higher than the number of people who have died in two previous floods that have killed at least six in the region. At least 10 deaths were linked to flooding caused by heavy rains in other parts of the US.