• Home
  • News
    • Politics & Government
    • Business & Economy
    • Crime / Courts
    • Health / Medicine
  • Sports
    • High School Sports
    • Radio Iowa Poll
  • Affiliates
    • Affiliate Support Page
  • Contact Us
    • Reporters

Radio Iowa

Iowa's Radio News Network

You are here: Home / Fires/Accidents/Disasters / Late morning rain in flooded Winneshiek County, more rain in the forecast

Late morning rain in flooded Winneshiek County, more rain in the forecast

August 24, 2016 By Radio Iowa Contributor

Flooded home in Freeport.

Flooded home in Freeport.

Flash flooding, mud slides and collapsing basements are among the catastrophes some northeast Iowa residents are dealing with today after torrential rains overnight. Winneshiek County Sheriff Dan Marx says there is “still significant flooding” in areas of Decorah and Freeport.

“We have at least one home with a collapsed foundation…The fire department was recommending evacuations,” Marx says. “…There’s people with a lot of loss right now.”

Marx is concerned by reports of flooding along the Upper Iowa River, near Bluffton.

“Now the water is coming up still at a fairly fast pace,” Marx says. “Last I checked, river levels were nearly 14.5 feet which is considered major flood stage.”

Residents in Spillville were sandbagging overnight, but abandoned the effort early this morning due to rising water from the Turkey River. The sheriff says “a lot of houses” in Spillville are underwater.

Freeport flooding.

Freeport flooding.

“Still a bad scene down there as well,” Marx says. “I believe there finally is now one access into town which is better than before when we had no access in or out town. Water was going over all the bridges leading in and out of town.”

Freeport, Spillville and Bluffton are the areas of greatest concern to the sheriff. Decorah officials have pumps operating at full capacity, trying to keep the city’s drinking water supply from being swamped by floodwater. A strong thunderstorm rolled through northern Winneshiek County late this morning and more rain is in the forecast.

“If that rain hits, obviously the ground can’t take any more moisture than what it already has, so it’s going to get worse,” Sheriff Marx says.

The Winneshiek County Engineer warns residents some roads are “completely impassable.” Crews believe a section of one county road has completely washed away in the flooding and cannot be repaired.

Chickasaw County authorities say they’re searching for someone they believe may have been swept away in the flooding before daybreak. A car was found in a ditch near Lawler, but no one was inside.

(Reporting by Darin Swenson, KDEC, Decorah)

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters, News, Weather

Featured Stories

Bill would limit placement of solar arrays on farm ground

Marquette casino moving to land, leaving only 2 casino boats in Iowa

Reynolds signs her ‘school choice’ bill into law

Governor Reynolds touts 2024 Iowa Caucuses in Inaugural Address

University of Iowa grad presiding over U.S. House Speaker vote

TwitterFacebook
Tweets by RadioIowa

No coaching changes coming for Iowa football

Iowa State names new receivers coach

No. 2 Iowa visits No. 1 Penn State in wrestling dual Friday night

Iowa’s Clark brings increased exposure to women’s basketball

No. 18 Iowa State women visit TCU

More Sports

Archives

Copyright © 2023 ยท Learfield News & Ag, LLC