Southwest Iowa evacuations as Missouri River floods, levees fail

Missouri River flooding leads to Southwest Iowa evacuations WHO-TV Photo

FREEMONT COUNTY, Iowa - A levee break near the Fremont-Mills county line has caused evacuations in far southwest Iowa.

The level of the Missouri River is rising rapidly, and is expected to top levels of the 2011 Missouri River Flood.

“This morning I was notified that there was a breach up at Mills County, so we now have water running down from that breach area,” Mike Creselius, Fremont County Emergency Manager tells WHO-TV 13. “We are going to ask anybody that lives west of Bluff Road to evacuate because we have water coming down from the north right now."

While some were hauling belongings from Percival, one man said he would stay to ride it out.

“I’m going to stick it out. I have no place to go,” said Dale Chaney of Percival. “Our house is kind of high. We went through this in 2011.”

Creseliu, though, says he is concerned the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers may increase the outflow into the Missouri. Other Missouri River levees have also failed to the north in the Omaha area, leading to evacuations there.


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