Storm clean up continues across parts of Iowa today. The Red Cross is distributing “clean-up” kits in areas of north-central Iowa, where heavy rainfall has resulted in widespread flooding. Butler County Emergency Management Coordinator Steve Ulrich says the hardest hit area is the town of Dumont, where the rain caused widespread basement flooding. He says approximately 50 homes have water in their basements and one home has water up to the first floor. Despite additional rain in the past 24 hours, Ulrich says the flood situation is improving. He says the water had gone done significantly this morning.
Officials in neighboring Franklin county are assessing the damage caused by the weekend flooding. Sheriff Larry Richtsmeier says the clean-up there will be extensive when the flood waters recede. He says Latimer has in excess of seven inches and multiple houses has six to ten inches of water in their basements and several streets in Latimer were closed. He says they also had several county roads closed by flooding. Richtsmeier says farm fields filled with water are causing most of the flooding problems in Franklin County. He says field runoff is a problem with all the farm ground. He says the waterways are all full and the downstream areas are all full in Butler, Hardin and Grundy Counties are all full from earlier rains and the water has nowhere to go. Richtsmeier estimates more than 50 homes have been damaged by flooding in Hampton, Coulter and Latimer. He says the damage is severe in more than one of them. He says everyone has a little bit of water, but 25 to 30 have problems with appliances being swamped.
Downstream in Cedar Falls, officials have revised the flood estimates for the Cedar River. Officials expect the Cedar to crest at about three feet above flood stage on Thursday, which is slightly higher than earlier predictions.
Police chief Rick Ahlstrom says flooding will impact low-lying areas of the city, but damage should be minimal. He says the city has bought out a number of flood prone properties to help mitigate the situation. He says there are some areas that the city has notified them to be ready in case they have to move their possessions.