Missouri River flooding along Interstate 29 in Sioux City (KSCJ photo)
Northwest Iowa — The President has approved the governor’s request for a Major Disaster Declaration for five Iowa counties with heavy damage from flooding. Residents in Clay, Emmet, Lyon, Plymouth, and Sioux Counties may apply for federal aid through FEMA, and businesses swamped by floodwaters may be eligible for low-interest loans from the Small Business Administration.
Clean-up continues in northwest Iowa where floodwaters are receding. Cheri Gacke of Rock Valley says this is the second time she’s had to recover from a flood, as her home was flooded a decade ago. She plans to move.
Five hundred homes in Rock Valley are damaged or destroyed after the Rock River crested five feet higher than it did in 2014. Volunteers are helping residents like Gacke sift through their belongings and haul debris to the curb.
Meanwhile, the floodwaters are doing damage farther downstream. A railroad bridge across the Big Sioux at North Sioux City has failed and residents of Rodney and Smithland, about 30 miles southeast of Sioux City had to be evacuated due to a levee failure on the Little Sioux. We’re also told the DOT is closing I29 at Council Bluffs.
