There are dozens of closed roadways in northwest Iowa’s Clay County from this week’s heavy rainfall and flooding. Clay County Engineer Scott Rinehart says some rural roads are washed out, while others need more serious repairs. “We have two structures that are completely gone, a bridge on Lexington Creek, and south of Gillett Grove, we had an 84-inch pipe washed out, so that road is not going to be open for a while,” Rinehart said.
Roughly 50 to 60 roadways are closed across Clay County, according to Rinehart. Crews are putting in some long hours to make repairs. “Right now, we’re running 12 hours on, 12 hours off,” Rinehart said. “We’re looking at it just as we would a big blizzard or snowstorm. We’re just going to keep running the hours until we get the situation back to where it’s manageable.”
Rinehart believes that Clay County will eventually be declared a disaster area. Earlier this week, Governor Branstad issued disaster proclamations for Cedar, Lyon, Plymouth, Pocahontas and Sioux counties. The action clears the way for state resources be used respond to and recover from severe storms and flooding.
(Reporting by Ryan Long, KCID, Spencer)