University of Iowa spokesman Steve Parrott says officials have evacuated Mayflower residence hall due to rising flood water. Parrott says the Iowa River has come up so high that it is beginning to cut off access to the residence hall and around 100 summer school students have been moved to Burge Hall and Parklawn. He says they’ll have to find places for about 200 summer campers to stay next week.
The Army Corps of Engineers has increased the rate of release from Coralville Reservoir, and that’s sending the Iowa River out of its banks. Parrott says the situation will only get worse before it gets better.
Parrott says they’re releasing about 12,000 cubic feet of water per second, and that causes Dubuque Street near Mayflower to be flooded. He says they’ll raise that to 15,000 cubic feet per second of water by Saturday. Parrott says people coming into Iowa City will have to look for alternate routes to avoid the flooded Dubuque Street.
Parrott says they have large crowds coming into town this weekend for alumni events and often have people making visits. He says they should use the Dodge Street or Coralville exits. More rain is in the forecast today, and flood warnings remain in effect on several dozen Iowa rivers and streams.