Flooding in the Midwest has caused severe damage, collapsing a bridge, weakening a dam and forcing the evacuation of a town.
Nearly 3 million people in Iowa, South Dakota, Minnesota and Nebraska have been affected.
In the border area of Iowa and South Dakota, devastation from the record flooding was âsevere and widespread,â according to Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds. At least one person in Iowa and one person in South Dakota have died.Â
“Flooding impacts will continue” in parts of Iowa and South Dakota, “but the chance for additional rainfall in the next 2 to 3 days is low,” the National Weather Service said in an update Monday afternoon.
Iowa
In Clay County, Iowa, the sheriffâs office confirmed one person drowned over the weekend as a result of the floods.
Spencer â a city of more than 11,000 people and the county seat of Clay County â was cut off from the rest of the state by floodwater. Hundreds were evacuated to shelters, and 383 rescues have been made, Spencer Fire Chief Jesse Coulson said.
Nate Gastelum, 20, said he was at home with his roommate in Spencer when they realized they needed to flee.
âWe started at the street and then we ended up at the back of the house because we had to keep backing up,â Gastelum said. âThere was just, like, an eerie feeling, and me and my roommate were like, âYeah, we need to go.ââ
Gastelum said his basement was flooded and his house would not be habitable for a while.
âBut thatâs nothing compared to what happened to other people around us,â he said. âIn the south side of town, those houses are almost completely destroyed.â
Gastelum described collapsed houses throughout town, cars submerged or floating through the streets and mass power outages. People trapped in their homes have had to jump from upper stories onto boats to flee, Gastelum said.
Still, he said, the city has come together to help those most affected.
âThe best thing about this town is that everybody that wasnât greatly impacted is opening their doors to as many people as they can fit,â he said. âLike my mom, she has taken in 11 people and a couple of dogs because their house got completely destroyed.â
âI had my truck, and I was helping families get to safe zones in my truck bed,â Gastelum said.
Reynolds visited several areas in northwest Iowa on Monday. She issued a disaster proclamation for one county and an emergency proclamation for five others.
âIn almost every community impacted, the river crested several feet above record levels from the flood of 1993,â Reynolds said Sunday at a news conference.
The Sioux City fire marshal called the flooding âunprecedented,â saying it is difficult to predict whatâs next given the areaâs lack of experience with devastation of this scale.
âNobody has experienced this level of rainfall and this much water at one time,â Fire Marshal Mark Aesoph said, noting that the evacuation area will continue to grow as the water continues to rise within a temporary levee built to control the flooding.
A flood warning remains in effect in parts of northwest Iowa until 1 p.m. Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service.
South Dakota
A railroad bridge connecting Sioux City, Iowa, to North Sioux City, South Dakota, collapsed Sunday night and fell into the Big Sioux River.Â
One person died in South Dakota after having driven a utility task vehicle that rolled down an embankment created by a washed-out roadway, according to the South Dakota Highway Patrol.
Gov. Kristi Noem urged people to consider their safety and that of their families as of âutmost importance,â reminding them to stay out of floodwaters.
âThroughout this entire incident, we did have one loss of life,â Noem said. âAnd so the perspective of how dangerous this is is becoming very real for that family.â
Noem warned that the next days would be âtoughâ and that the impact of the floodâs destruction on the state would be felt for months to come.
âIn case we needed any reminder of the destructive nature of water,â Noem said Monday at a news conference, âwe are seeing it in real time today.â
Southeast South Dakota remains under a flood warning until 1 p.m. Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service.
Minnesota
In south-central Minnesota, a dam near Rapidan faces âimminent failureâ because of structural damage caused by the floods. Still, it remains functional for the time being, and local authorities say there is no plan for a âmass evacuationâ as they continue to monitor the situation.
The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning until 10:30 a.m. Tuesday for areas downstream of the Rapidan Dam along the Blue Earth River. The service instructed those in low-lying areas below the dam to move to higher ground immediately.
The rest of southern Minnesota similarly remains under a flood warning through Tuesday, with a flood watch in effect in some southwestern parts.
CORRECTIONÂ (June 24, 2024, 10:28 p.m. ET): A previous version of this article misspelled the name of a Spencer, Iowa, resident. He is Nate Gastelum, not Gatelum.