After several days of heavy rain, rivers and streams across a wide section of Iowa’s western half are on the rise, especially in the northwest, which got three more inches of rain Wednesday alone.
Meteorologist Kyle Weisser, at the National Weather Service, says there are numerous flood watches and warnings posted across the region and Iowans need to take care. “With water, it seems innocuous enough, it’s not that scary looking if there’s water on the road, but it only takes 12 to 24 inches of moving water to take your car off the road,” Weisser says. “Especially at night, that can be a real hazard when you can’t tell how much water is on the road, especially if you’re driving in an area you’re not used to being in.”
While several storms dumped multiple inches of rain this week, the trouble is that’s it’s been raining at least a little every day for several days straight. The soil is saturated so any more rain prompts quick flooding. Weisser says it’s possible that the worst is behind us now.
“We’ll see some lingering light-to-moderate rain today so luckily, most of the accumulating rainfall is over and done with,” Weisser says. “We’ll see some chances as we head into Saturday but right now, it does not appear as though there’s going to be a lot of additional rainfall.” Some communities in northwest Iowa have gotten seven inches of rain this week and areas there and to the south that haven’t already flooded may soon.
“You’re going to see some rivers rise pretty quickly over the next day or two,” Weisser says. “I don’t doubt a few communities may need to sandbag but hopefully, we can avoid that. This rain kind of fell over a longer period of time.” By next week, he says the clouds should part and bring us sunny skies and warmer temperatures.
(By Dennis Morrice, KLEM, Le Mars)