Several midwest states remain underwater on Tuesday as millions of people across more than two dozen states face extreme heat warnings.
Heavy rainfall triggered deadly flooding in South Dakota, Iowa and Minnesota over the weekend. While many places have already seen the worst of the flooding, heavy rainfall will cause rivers to crest through Thursday, the National Weather Service (NWS) said. Flooding will remain a concern for at least another week, forecasters say.
Tuesday’s heavy rain will also bring egg-sized hail to the region, the NWS forecasts.
William Schulze of Elburn, Illinois died in Iowa over the weekend. Elburn was trying to cross the swollen Little Sioux River in a Ford F-150 when he was swept away, ABC 7 Chicago reports. When authorities later found his car, Elburn was dead.
One person also died in South Dakota on Saturday after their vehicle rolled down an embankment created by a water-eroded road, NBC News reports.
Flooding has also destroyed businesses, healthcare facilities and homes in Iowa, said Governor Kim Reynolds, who declared a state of emergency in 21 counties last week.
“Businesses are shuttered. Main streets have been impacted,” Reynolds said. “Hospitals, nursing homes and other care facilities were evacuated. Cities are without power, and some are without drinkable water.”
Some 4,000 people were evacuated from Rock Valley, Iowa as flooding tore through the community Sunday. Officials worked to perform water rescues throughout the day.
“Thirteen team members with multiple rescue boats have rescued many people and animals stranded in the floodwaters,” Sioux City Fire Rescue officials said of the Rock Valley rescues.
Drone footage posted by the Woodbury County, Iowa Sheriff’s Office on Sunday showed several buildings, including homes, submerged in the flood waters with only their roofs visible in the town of Correctionville. Several powerlines and roads were also underwater, the footage showed.
In Sioux City, Iowa, a train bridge connecting the town to South Dakota collapsed into the swollen Big Sioux River late Sunday, local outlet KTIV4 reports.
“That is the main bridge going into Iowa that a lot of commodities and different materials move on throughout the state,” South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem said of the collapse. “That’ll impact us for many, many months to come.”
Meanwhile, Minnesota flooding left “entire communities under feet of water,” Governor Tim Walz said on Saturday. A key dam in the state also partially failed on Monday afternoon after severe flooding hit the region.
The Rapidan Dam in Blue Earth County is breaking down as rushing waters sweep debris into the 114-year-old structure. Debris began accumulating at the dam on Sunday, the Blue Earth County Sheriff’s Office said. The swollen Blue Earth River is also cutting through the west side of the dam, officials said.
On Monday morning, the dam was in “imminent failure condition.” By the afternoon, it had suffered a “partial failure,” the sheriff’s office said. Nearby roads have been closed to protect residents.
As catastrophic floods continue, millions of people across 27 states are under heat alerts as of Tuesday.
These alerts come after much of the central and eastern US was under a heat dome, an oppressive atmospheric event that traps heat and causes extreme heat waves.
As the climate crisis drives more extreme and frequent heatwaves in the US and around the world, experts say 2024 will likely be the hottest year on record at a global level following the record-setting 2023.