DOT traffic camera view near Sidney on I-29.
A small group of rural residents in western Iowa’s Mills County have been warned they may have to evacuate due to recent heavy rains and increased flows on the Missouri River.
Mills County Public Information Officer Sheri Bowen says “significant flooding” is occurring again west of Interstate 29. “We’ve just seen a large amount of water that has backfilled into that western edge of Mills County,” she says.
The advisory about evacuation preparation covers a limited number of people because many homes in the area remain empty following the major flooding in March.
“The greatest percentage of families and businesses are not back and they’ve been working on their properties, but are not living there,” Bowen says, “so we just wanted to be sure the few families that are out there, the few businesses that have been back in are aware of the water situation and they can take steps to make sure they’re safe in the event that water does close more roads.”
The Iowa DOT closed Interstate 29 from Highway 34 south to the Missouri border yesterday. Highway 34 was closed west of the interstate to the Nebraska border. The closures come after the roads were briefly reopened following repairs. Bowen says the continuing problems have frustrated residents and commuters like.
“This just makes us all aware that this is a long way from over,” Bowen says.
The governors of Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri and Kansas met with Army Corps of Engineers officials yesterday to discuss management of the Missouri River.
(By Ryan Matheny, KMA, Shenandoah)