Hundreds of homes damaged or destroyed by flooding in the northern U.S. Midwest are among the first victims of extreme weather hitting the region as floodwaters move south.
Severe storms also hit parts of the northeast on Wednesday and Thursday, initially knocking out power to some 250,000 people in the region.
In Connecticut, a man was killed by a falling tree overnight, authorities said. Crews used a chainsaw to free the man, who was pronounced dead.
In western Pennsylvania, the storms likely spawned at least three tornadoes, according to the National Weather Service. The suspected tornadoes touched down in parts of Allegheny and Westmoreland counties, and crews were out surveying the damage Thursday. The storms also brought heavy rain and wind gusts of up to 70 miles per hour to the area, downing power lines and trees and damaging some homes and other structures. No injuries were reported.
Parts of Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota and Minnesota have been besieged by flooding from torrential rains since last week, while suffering from a sweltering heat wave. Up to 46 centimeters of rain fell in some areas, pushing some rivers to record levels. Hundreds of people were rescued and at least two people died after driving through flooded areas.
In Iowa, other cities prepared for flooding, but some were spared. The West Fork of the Des Moines River crested Wednesday evening at about 15 feet, where it will linger a little longer before the waters begin to recede. Humboldt County Emergency Manager Kyle Bissell breathed a sigh of relief Thursday morning upon hearing the news, noting that while the swollen river had damaged several dozen homes, the threat of more damage had receded.
“They had a lot of time to prepare and they did a good job,” he said of Humboldt homes and businesses.
Bissell said between 50 and 75 homes reported minor damage from water seeping into basements, which is less than the 200 homes expected. Only a few unoccupied summer cabins appear to have sustained significant damage.
A levee on the Little Sioux River in Monona County, Iowa, was damaged by flooding, but county emergency coordinator Patrick Prorok said Wednesday that flooding was contained by another segment of the water system. dikes. This levee is the only federal levee to fail in the area, according to the Omaha District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
In the coming days, Nebraska and northwest Missouri should begin to see the effects of flooding downstream. Many streams and rivers may not crest until later this week. The Missouri River will crest in Omaha on Thursday, said Kevin Low, a hydrologist with the National Weather Service.
Some of the most striking images were of floodwaters surging around the Minnesota Dam.
Blue Earth County officials said Wednesday that the river had moved wider and deeper into the riverbank and that they were concerned about the integrity of a nearby bridge spanning the river. Once the flooding subsides, the county will have to decide whether to repair the dam or remove it, with both options costing millions of dollars.
Preliminary information from the National Weather Service shows that recent flooding has brought record levels to more than a dozen locations in South Dakota and Iowa, surpassing previous peaks by an average of about three feet.
The flooding devastated neighborhoods in some riverside communities in South Dakota, Iowa and Nebraska, including North Sioux City, South Dakota, where streets collapsed, power poles and trees were uprooted, and several homes were swept off their foundations.
Many roads were closed due to flooding, including Highways 29 and 680 in Iowa, near the Nebraska border.
