A tornado was reported near Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Tuesday. More severe weather is expected across the region, potentially bringing large hail, damaging winds and tornadoes to parts of western Iowa and eastern Nebraska, according to the National Weather Service.
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Nick Rollman/Gazette/AP
DES MOINES, Iowa — Tornado warnings, flash flooding and large hail are adding insult to injury for people across the Midwest who are already dealing with heat, humidity and severe flooding after days of rain.
The National Weather Service issued multiple tornado warnings for parts of Iowa and Nebraska Tuesday afternoon and evening, and local TV news meteorologists showed photos of large hail and talked about heavy rain.
Floodwaters breached levees in Iowa early Tuesday, creating hazards and prompting evacuations.
A swath of land from eastern Nebraska and South Dakota to Iowa and Minnesota has been besieged by torrential flooding since last week while also being buffeted by a scorching heat wave. Up to 18 inches of rain fell in some areas, and some rivers reached record levels. Hundreds of people were rescued, homes were damaged and at least two people died after driving in flooded areas.
Onlookers witnessed catastrophic damage to the Rapidan Dam site in Rapidan, Minnesota, on Monday. Debris clogged the dam, forcing the heavily silted Blue Earth River to reroute along the bank closest to the dam reservoir.
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Kathy Ecker/The Free Press/AP
The Monona County Sheriff’s Office near the Nebraska border said the Little Sioux River breached levees in multiple areas. In neighboring Woodbury County, the Sheriff’s Office posted drone video on Facebook showing the river overflowing its levees and flooding land in rural Smithland. There were no immediate reports of injuries.
Monona County Emergency Management Coordinator Patrick Prorok said there were about 45 people in the town of Rodney, and people were woken up around 4 a.m. to advise evacuations. As of late Tuesday morning, water had yet to rush into the community.
“People on the mountain are saying it’s coming to us,” Prolock said.
Rachel Morsching sat on the flooded porch of her father, Dean Roemhildt’s, home in Waterville, Minnesota, on Tuesday. Water from nearby Tetonka Lake and Sakatah Lake has eroded the town.
Kathy Ecker/The Free Press/AP
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Kathy Ecker/The Free Press/AP
New areas flooded on Tuesday, with some towns cleaning up after the water receded, while others downstream piled sandbags and took other measures to ward off the incoming surge. Ordinary, unremarkable tributaries suddenly flow into fast-flowing rivers, damaging homes, buildings and bridges.
“Normally, the river is It’s barely a trickle, “Really, you can walk across it most of the time. “
South Dakota state geologist Tim Cowman said five major rivers in the southeast corner of the state have peaked and are declining, albeit slowly. The last of these rivers to crest was the James River, which peaked early Tuesday.
Heavy rains from recent days flooded farmland near Vermillion, South Dakota, on Tuesday. Flooding devastated communities in several Midwestern states.
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Jack Hofner/AP
At a housing development along Lake McCook in North Sioux City, the damage became more apparent Tuesday as floodwaters began to recede Monday, exposing downed streets, utility poles and trees. Some houses had their foundations washed away.
“Currently, there is no water, sewer, gas or electric service in the area,” Union County Emergency Management said in a Facebook post.
President Joe Biden on Monday approved a major disaster declaration for affected counties in Iowa, a move that paves the way for federal aid.
In southern Iowa’s Sioux City and Woodbury counties, officials responded to residents’ complaints that they had received little warning about the flooding and its severity. Sioux City Fire Chief Mark Esoff said at a news conference Tuesday that river levels were higher than expected.
“Even if we knew this two weeks ago, there’s nothing we can do at this point. We can’t extend the entire length of the dike,” Isoff said. “impossible.”
Water has overflowed the Big Sioux River levee, and Aesop estimates hundreds of homes may have some interior water damage.
Resident Ben Thomas said a home on the south side of Spencer, Iowa, near the Little Sioux River, is no longer habitable because water has reached the main floors. Many people in the town are facing a “double whammy”, with homes and businesses affected.
Woodbury County officials said about a dozen bridges on the Little Sioux River were flooded and each needed to be inspected to see if they could be reopened to traffic.
Forever Wildlife Lodge and Clinic, a nonprofit animal rescue in northwest Iowa, has fielded more than 200 calls since the flooding began, said Amanda Hase, a licensed wildlife rehabilitator.
Haas called the floods “catastrophic” for Iowa’s wildlife, which were flushed from their nests, injured by debris and separated from each other. She and other rehabilitators are responding to calls about a variety of species, from fawns and prairie dogs to rabbits and eaglets.
“I’ve never seen it this bad before,” she said.
Floodwaters rushed over a collapsed railroad bridge over the Big Sioux River near North Sioux City, South Dakota, on Monday.
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Josh Jurgens/AP
Farther east, in Humboldt, Iowa, a record crest of 16.5 feet is expected on Wednesday at the West Fork of the Des Moines River. Nearly 68,000 sandbags have been laid amid the heat and humidity, county emergency manager Kyle Bissell said.
Bissell told reporters Tuesday that there was no water in the streets yet, but flooding had begun in some backyards and had spread to foundations. Humboldt has nearly 5,000 residents.
More severe weather is expected across the region on Tuesday, potentially bringing large hail, damaging winds and even one or two brief spells in parts of western Iowa and eastern Nebraska, according to the National Weather Service. of tornadoes. Showers and storms are also possible in parts of South Dakota and Minnesota, the agency said.
In Michigan, violent thunderstorms rolled in Tuesday morning, knocking out power to more than 150,000 homes and businesses, less than a week after the storm plunged thousands of homes into darkness in suburban Detroit.
The weather service is also forecasting more than two dozen severe flooding in southern Minnesota, eastern South Dakota and northern Iowa, with flood warnings expected to remain in effect into this week.
Many streams, especially with increased rainfall, may not reach their peaks until later this week as floodwaters slowly flow along the river network toward the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. Weather service hydrologist Kevin Low said Missouri will peak in Omaha on Thursday.
North of Des Moines, Iowa, the lake above Sayreville Dam is absorbing river surges and is expected to largely protect the metro area from flooding, according to the Polk County Emergency Management Agency. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers predicted Tuesday that Lake Sayreville’s water level will rise more than 30 feet by July 4.
Jared Glock, left, and his son Robbie remove a box of water-soaked stuffed animals from the flood-damaged basement of their home on East Second Street in Spencer, Iowa, on Tuesday. Officials said about 40 percent of properties in the city were affected after the Little Sioux River flooded.
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Tim Hinds/Sioux City Journal/Associated Press
Outside Mankato, Minnesota, the western support structure of the Rapidan Dam on the Blue Earth River suffered a “partial failure” due to a debris blockage, the local sheriff’s office said Monday. The water eroded the west bank, overturned a dam and destroyed an electrical substation, causing about 600 power outages.
Eric Weller, Blue Earth County Sheriff’s Emergency Management Director, said the levee could see more erosion, but he didn’t expect the concrete dam itself to collapse. Two houses downstream were evacuated.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz warned Tuesday against rebuilding too quickly and instead emphasizing more sustainable repairs to prevent or mitigate future flooding.
“Nature doesn’t care whether you believe in climate change or not,” Walz said. “The insurance companies certainly believe it. The actuaries certainly believe it, and so do we.”
