At least three people are confirmed dead and hundreds of homes and businesses have been destroyed. The flooding has hit Missouri, Nebraska and, Iowa cutting off entire towns. Rivers across these areas have reached historic records in 41 locations.
At least one death was caused by a man that died after refusing to leave his home.
Two of the three confirmed deaths due to the flooding all occurred in Nebraska. Aside from the man killed after refusing to evacuate, a farmer in Norfolk, Nebraska was killed attempting a rescue in the flood waters. There are two others missing in Nebraska and presumed dead but have not yet been confirmed.
According to the Sarpy County Nebraska Sheriff’s office, at least 500 homes were destroyed. The flooding was the result of overtopped levees in the county. Many other homes and businesses have also been lost in surrounding areas. Earlier in the weekend, Nebraska’s sixth largest city, Fremont, was turned into an island from floodwaters.
A 55-year-old man died in Riverton, Iowa after being trapped by floodwaters while trying to escape the floodwaters by car. Two other men in the car survived the rescue. Two other people in Freemont, Iowa were injured after attempting to drive around a flood barrier.
The town of Pacific Junction, Iowa was put under mandatory evacuation late Sunday after two levee failures.
Thurman, Iowa also began evacuation on Sunday with rapid water approaching the town. The National Weather Service reported the flooding as the result of levee breaches on the Missouri River. Other towns evacuated included Hamburg, Percival, McPaul, and Bartlett.
A levee south of Fortescue, Missouri reached it’s capacity on Sunday filling homes with as much as 6 to 7 feet of water in Holt County, Missouri. Missouri and Kansas are both downstream from areas already flooded.
The river in St. Joseph, Missouri is expected to breach at 30.1 feet early in the week. The city is trying to have at least 150,000 sandbags in place before Tuesday which will add 2-feet to the levee.
Atchison and Leavenworth, Kansas are also facing the threat of reaching a medium to major flood stages. Kansas City is just behind them with the potential for minor flooding.
