Rock Valley, Iowa — For the second time in three days, a portion of the northwest Iowa town of Rock Valley is under an evacuation order.
The mayor ordered residents across a section of town to leave their homes Friday due to flooding…and more storms Sunday prompted more evacuations. Mayor Kevin Van Otterloo says the town’s pumps are overwhelmed:
The mayor also ordered a travel ban on Sunday night within the Rock Valley city limits.
That travel ban was lifted shortly before 1:00 a.m. Monday morning.
The mayor doesn’t have a number of Rock Valley residents who’ve been impacted by the flooding, nor is there a number being released of those who’ve been evacuated.
Governor Kim Reynolds visited Rock Valley on Saturday and the site of last week’s train derailment. More than 30 rail cars jumped the flooded tracks. Fourteen of the cars leaked some 230-thousand gallons of oil. The governor says B-N-S-F railroad is in the clean-up process:
Governor Reynolds says the railroad is working to access the wrecked cars so that the remaining fuel can be offloaded before the cars can be moved.
Reynolds says the Iowa National Guard is standing by, but she doesn’t think troops will be needed for flood assistance or for the train derailment cleanup process.
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Original story posted Jun 24, 2018 at 9:56 p.m.:
Rock Valley, Iowa — The city of Rock Valley has issued a mandatory evacuation, this time for everything north of 17th Street in town, as well as the HJ MJ Trailer Court in Rock Valley. The Rock Valley Fire Department and Ambulance, Sioux Center Fire and Hull Fire Departments are working to evacuate residents from their homes to shelter at Faith Reformed Church.
“We are reminding citizens to STAY HOME if you are not in the evacuation areas so our rescue crews can work,” said Mayor Kevin Van Otterloo.
After a very fast heavy rainfall, the streets have again flooded areas of the city.
The Sioux County Sheriff’s Office also advised there was a travel ban in effect for Rock Valley at about 10 p.m. Sunday night. No travel was permitted. That travel ban was lifted about 12:45 a.m. Monday morning.
Related Stories:
http://kiwaradio.com/local-news/rock-valley-flooding/
http://kiwaradio.com/local-news/train-derailment-causes-mandatory-evacuations-south-of-doon/
http://kiwaradio.com/local-news/railroad-progress-being-made-toward-oil-spill-cleanup/
