USA – Floods in Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota as Rain and Melting Snow Push Rivers to Record Levels

by in News, USA

A combination of rain, melting snow and ice jams has caused rivers to overflow in Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota, USA, prompting evacuations and dam releases.

Via Social Media, NWS Omaha / Valley NE said on 14 March, “Historic river flooding will continue today! Evacuations (are) ongoing in multiple locations. Please listen to local authorities and heed any evacuation orders. This is a very serious situation”

As of 14 March, rivers were above major flood stage in at least 20 locations across the 3 states, with a further 41 locations at moderate floods stage and 72 above minor flood stage.

Levels of Pebble Creek at Scribner, Nebraska, have reached record heights, standing at 30.82 feet on 14 March, well above the previous high of 24.48 feet set in 1996.

A retirement home in Pierce, Nebraska has been evacuated and around 300 residents of the city of Missouri Valley in Iowa have been asked to evacuate their homes. Residents along the levee of Shell Creek in Schulyer and Rogers in Nebraska have also been urged to evacuate.

Dozens of roads have been closed due to flooding and a bridge has been severely damaged near Niobrara, Knox County, Nebraska.

The flooding comes as wide areas of the country have been hammered by a powerful winter storm, with wind gusts of over 100 km/h recorded in Texas, Colorado and New Mexico.

As of 14 March, rivers were above major flood stage in at least 20 locations across the 3 states, with a further 41 locations at moderate floods stage and 72 above minor flood stage. Image; NWS
Pebble Creek at Scribner reached record levels on 14 March, 2019. Image; NWS
floods in Wahoo, Nebraska, 13 March 2019. Photo: Wahoo Fire and Rescue

Gavins Point Dam Releases

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has increased releases from Gavins Point Dam in Yankton, South Dakota, in response to increased runoff into the Missouri River above the dam.

“The increase in Gavins Point releases is in response to heavy rains and melting snow in the 16,000-square mile drainage area between Fort Randall Dam and Gavins Point Dam,” said John Remus, chief of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Missouri River Basin Water Management Division based in Omaha.

“Even with releases from Fort Randall shut off, the runoff from the heavy rainfall and melting snow, primarily in the Niobrara River basin and its small tributaries, will quickly fill the small amount of flood storage in the Gavins Point reservoir,” added Remus.

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