Midwestern towns have been scrambling to shore up their levee systems this week as rising rivers flooded homes, submerged farmland and prompted daring rescue missions in three states.
In Iowa, where hundreds of buildings were destroyed, river levels are receding in some places but still rising in others. In Minnesota, up to 18 inches of rain prompted evacuations and the National Guard was activated. And in South Dakota, where one flood-related death has occurred and some residents have been advised to evacuate, Gov. Kristi Noem warned Sunday that “things are going to get worse before they get better.”
““Right now, the county is pretty much maxed out on water rescues,” Jason Westcott, emergency management director for Union County, South Dakota, said Sunday. “If this event continues to get more severe and conditions worsen in the area, we may not have the capacity to rescue people from their homes.”
The flooding comes after heavy rains in recent days that left the ground soaked and many streams and rivers overflowing. The Midwest has been hit by a variety of extreme weather events over the past few years, including record-breaking floods in 2019, prolonged drought, and brutal storms this month. As climate change warms the planet, scientists say these events will become more frequent.
Workers in Union County, southeastern South Dakota, had been piling 1-ton sandbags onto levees since the start of the week to help protect a local water treatment plant. As the Big Sioux River near Sioux City, Iowa, reached a record high on Sunday, Noem warned people to stay out of floodwaters.
“It's very dangerous for them to be so close to the currents that we're seeing,” she said.
Further north, in Lincoln County, South Dakota, the state Department of Public Safety said an 87-year-old man died while trying to turn his utility terrain vehicle around on a closed road where the shoulder had been washed away.
Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds said recent rains have overwhelmed drainage systems, destroying homes and burying farmland. The state's Department of Natural Resources conducted 250 water rescues in one day over the weekend and estimates that at least 1,900 homes have been damaged across the state. Aerial photos of Rock Valley, a town of 4,000 in northwest Iowa, show many homes submerged.
“Shops are closed and high streets are damaged. Hospitals, nursing homes and other care facilities have been evacuated,” Reynolds said. “Cities are without power and some are without potable water.”
In some areas, including Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and parts of northwest Iowa, waters are receding and property owners are getting a clearer picture of the damage. In other areas, the worst is yet to come.
“That water is going to be moving downstream,” Reynolds said. “Communities in the south can expect river levels to continue to rise to record highs.”
