EPIC END TO WINTER

Dozens of families were forced from their homes, farmsteads were flooded and roads throughout Mills County and southwest Iowa were closed late last week and over the weekend as flood waters from the Missouri River ravaged western Mills and Fremont Counties. The historic late winter flood is being compared to the famous Easter flood of 1952.

Mills County Emergency Management Director Larry Hurst said the impact area is considerably larger than the summer flood of 2011 - stretching from the stateline to the Loess Hills in many areas.

“We’re losing our levees,” Hurst said. “We have levee failure at several places, which didn’t happen to this extent in 2011.”

In a press conference Monday morning at the Mills County Courthouse, Gov. Kim Reynolds met with city, county and emergency management officials to assess what has become a grim picture of the devastation in Mills county and most of western Iowa in less than a week. The press conference included several minutes of drone footage showing the impacted areas and the devastating results of the flooding.

Hurst said there are currently five major breaches to the levee in Mills County causing massive flooding along the western edges of the county. With concerns water levels may still rise, the county and affected towns have begun taking precautions to assure safety for residents and endangered infrastructure.

Pacific Junction issued a mandatory evacuation order late Sunday night for all of its residents. The action was taken by Mayor Andy Young after rising waters began threatening the structural integrity in the city’s containments system.

Gas has been shut off to the entire community since Sunday. Electricity service has also been stopped in the western side of the community with plans to shut off electricity on the east side as well.

Young said between 450 and 475 residents have been evacuated as of Monday morning.

“Most of our people had been through this before,” Young said. “Some waited until the last minute to get out but most were prepared.”

Mandatory evacuation orders were also issued for portions of Lyons, Plattville and Glenwood Townships in Mills County and the Thurman and Bartlett areas of Fremont County.

With water threatening the Glenwood Municipal Water Treatment Facility near Pacific Junction, emergency management has issued a water restriction for Glenwood. Residents are being instructed to limit water use to indoor-only and to cut overall water use by 50 percent.

Glenwood Municipal Utilities has said the current water storage facility contains enough water to serve residents for two days without restriction.

Glenwood Mayor Ron Kohn said the city is hoping to stretch its water supply further with the use restriction.

Both East Mills and the Glenwood Community School Districts were in class as of Monday.

Glenwood Superintendent Devin Embray said the district has lost several bus routes due to flooding and road closures but that they were working with those families to get students to school.

With the water restriction, Embray said the district will determine soon if continuing classes is in the best interest of the community.

“We will go (to school) as long as we can but we’ll determine soon if closing will help conserve water,” Embray said. “The schools are a major consumer of water. They’re saying two or three days so we need to decide soon.”

As of late last week, Highway 34 was closed from the Nebraska state line to Glenwood and Interstate 29 was closed from Council Bluffs to the Missouri stateline.

Earlier in the week, flooding along the banks of the West Nishnabotna River in central Mills County forced the closure of a section of Highway 34.

With dozens of roads closed county-wide due to flooding, access to and from Glenwood north has been limited to Highway 275.

With the major breach of the levee near Highway 34 and the subsequent erosion due to heavy water flow, concerns have also been raised about the structural integrity of the Highway 34 Bridge across the Missouri River, according to Hurst.

However, with flood waters still rising, Hurst said, it might be three to four days before the Iowa Department of Transportation can properly assess the bridge structure.

Mills County Public Health Administrator Sheri Bowen said at least 430 households and businesses have been displaced as a result of the flooding. Evacuees were directed to a Red Cross shelter established in Council Bluffs at the Salem United Methodist Church.

Volunteers at Grace United Methodist Church in Glenwood stepped up to provide meals for evacuees and people assisting residents forced to move from their homes.

“We’re focusing on safety and getting people affected the resources they need,” Bowen said.

Volunteers were visible  throughout the weekend, filling sandbags and helping their neighbors in need move valuable belongings and vehicles. An estimated 300 volunteers showed up at the Al Hughes Auction building Sunday to help fill sandbags. Many of the sandbags were used to helped protect the Glenwood water treatment plant until officials determined that was no longer viable.

The Mills County Storehouse has been collecting donated items for those affected by the flood since last week.

Hurst said the county received a donation of 20 pallets of bottled water from Home Depot Monday morning.

By Saturday night, the Missouri River had surpassed the crest of the 2011 flood, rising to over 41.5 feet at Plattsmouth. The river crested at 36.73 in 2011.

The melting of heavy snow in states upstream along the Missouri and its tributaries resulted in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers drastically increasing Missouri River water flows from Gavins Point Dam in South Dakota. Within a week’s time, releases increased from below 20,000 cubic feet per second to 100,000. Hurst said the amount of water being released was expected to be scaled back gradually in the coming days.

Gov. Reynolds has issued a disaster proclamation for counties affected by the flooding. The governor’s proclamation activated the Iowa Individual Assistance Grant Program (IIAGP) and the Iowa Disaster Case Management program.

A flood fund has been established through the Omaha Community Foundation. Tax-deductible donations can be made online by selecting Southwest Iowa Funds or Mills County Flood Fund at omahafoundation.org/donate.