Iowa cities mobilize for flooding

Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa

Authorities in several Iowa cities were mobilizing resources Friday to handle flooding from a rain-swollen river that has forced evacuations in several communities upstream, while a Wisconsin town was recovering from storms now blamed for two deaths.

More rain fell Thursday night and early Friday in the area, and the National Weather Service said the threat of more rain and flash-flooding remained high along the Cedar River in northeastern Iowa.

Just across the Mississippi River in Wisconsin, residents of Victory, a tiny community at the base of a river bluff, were recovering from torrential rains, flooding and mudslides that caused two deaths.

Vernon County sheriff’s officials said Friday that floodwaters filled 79-year-old Joseph Menne’s pickup truck when the trailer he was pulling got stuck in 6 feet of water. Menne was reported missing about 7 p.m. Thursday, and his body was found about two hours later.

Authorities said another resident, 53-year-old Michael McDonald, died Thursday after his house slid down the side of a bluff and onto state Highway 35.

“In my 33 years in Vernon County law enforcement, this is the worst I’ve ever seen,” Sheriff John Spears said at the site of the Victory cleanup. “This has been devastating.”

Wisconsin emergency officials said preliminary estimates show the flooding over the past few days has caused millions of dollars in damage.