Hundreds of residents evacuated in US Midwest as floodwaters from Missouri River break through levees
- At least two people have been killed in the extreme weather seen across the Midwestern states in recent days
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 has led to dangerously high water in creeks and rivers across several Midwestern states, with the Missouri River hitting record-high levels in many areas. At least two deaths were blamed on flooding, and two other men have been missing for days. While river depths were starting to level off in Nebraska on Sunday, downstream communities in Kansas and Missouri were bracing for likely flooding.
In Iowa, the Missouri River reached 9.2m Sunday in Fremont County in the state’s far southwestern corner, 0.6m 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.”