ST. LOUIS (AP) — Residents in parts of southwestern Iowa were forced out of their homes Sunday as a torrent of Missouri River water flowed over and through levees.
Heavy rainfall and snowmelt forced river levels across several Midwestern states to dangerous levels. At least two deaths were blamed on flooding, and two other men have been missing for days. While river levels on Sunday were starting to level off in Nebraska, other residents in Iowa, Kansas and Missouri were bracing for worse flooding to come.
The Missouri River reached 30.2 feet (9.2 meters) Sunday in Fremont County, Iowa, in the state’s far southwestern corner, 2 feet (0.6 meter) above the record set in 2011. People in the towns of Bartlett and Thurman were being evacuated as levees were breached and overtopped.
County Emergency Management Director Mike Crecelius said it wasn’t just the amount of the water, it was the swiftness of the current that created a danger.
“This wasn’t a gradual rise,” Crecelius said. “It’s flowing fast and it’s open country — there’s nothing there to slow it down.”
Thurman has about 200 residents. About 50 people live in Bartlett.
Lucinda Parker of Iowa Homeland Security & Emergency Management said nearly 2,000 people have been evacuated at eight Iowa locations since flooding began late last week. Most were staying with friends or family. Seven shelters set up for flood victims held just a couple dozen people Saturday night.
Hundreds of people remained out of their homes in Nebraska, but rivers there were starting to recede. The National Weather Service said the Elkhorn River remained at major flood stage but was dropping. It was expected to dip back below flood stage by Tuesday. U.S. 30 reopened near Arlington on Saturday.
The flooding is blamed on at least two deaths. Aleido Rojas Galan, 52, of Norfolk, Nebraska, was swept away in floodwaters Friday night in southwestern Iowa, when the vehicle he was in went around a barricade. Two others in the vehicle survived — one by clining to a tree. On Thursday, James Wilke, 50, of Columbus, Nebraska, died when a bridge collapsed as he used a tractor to try and reach stranded motorists.
Two men remain missing. A Norfolk man was seen on top of his flooded car late Thursday before being swept away. Water also swept away a man after a dam collapse.
In St. Joseph, Missouri, home to 76,000 people, volunteers were helping to fill sandbags to help secure a levee protecting an industrial area. Calls were out for even more volunteers in hopes of filling 150,000 sandbags by Tuesday, when the Missouri River is expected to climb to 27 feet — 10 feet above technical flood stage.
The rising Mississippi River also was creating concern. The Mississippi was already at major flood level along the Iowa-Illinois border, closing roads and highways and swamping thousands of acres of farmland. Moderate Mississippi River flooding was expected at several Missouri cities, including St. Louis.
Flooding has also been reported in Minnesota, South Dakota and Wisconsin.
Hope those places ain’t asking the government for handouts to recover… Government is bad…
Conservatives only complain about government benefits that OTHER people get, because they think they’d get even more benefits if only liberals weren’t ruining everything by giving benefits to the “wrong” people.
They all want better healthcare, education, and a safety net in case things go wrong; which is why many of them join the military. They just don’t want OTHER people to have these things and don’t understand why they should have to share because they get all their news from rightwing billionaires and still haven’t noticed.
Well I’ll be off shortly to go walk by the Meramec River which enters the Mississippi River south of St. Louis City. Yesterday there was flooding on the middle of the walking trail. The Meramec River has been full but not flooding as of yesterday. When the Missouri River and upper Mississippi River flood it causes a backup into the Meramec, but I haven’t yet seen the Meramec flowing up stream.
Two days ago my Congresswoman was complaining about the National Flood Insurance Program, and how it needs to be fixed. Too bad she hasn’t sat on the Financial Services Committee since 2013. It’s not like we haven’t had 2 major floods, nor 3 minor flooding incidents since she’s been in office.
Im sorry to tell you folks your Senator has sold his credibility completely down the river as he supported Trump’ nonemergent emergency on the border. You’ll probably have to make do with his “thoughts and prayers”.
Boy, it must burn having a Senator who lacks understanding of what comprises an actual emergency, as well as not understanding the Constitution Article I powers.
So those “hundred year floods” are coming a couple times a decade now. Warm seas evaporate more water; warm atmosphere holds more moisture.