Communities along the Upper Mississippi River scrambled Wednesday as the always-massive river swelled to near-record levels, forcing some to evacuate while others downstream stacked sandbag walls and closed off flood-prone areas.
The river has grown so large because of a huge snowpack in northern Minnesota that began to quickly melt last week because of rising temperatures.
Denver 7+ Colorado News Latest Headlines | April 26, 11am Improved floodwalls and other temporary measures should prevent significant problems, but crews were constantly monitoring the river, officials in the Iowa cities of Dubuque, Davenport and Burlington said. Forecasts call for only a chance of light showers later in the week.
Melby estimated about a half-dozen people have decided to evacuate after the rising waters forced emergency workers to cut power and gas to their homes. Emergency officials have not issued mandatory evacuation orders, though, he said.Amy Werner, who lives on the northern tip of French Island, has been using six pumps to remove river water from a crawl space.
Crawford County Emergency Management Specialist Marc Myhre said that some families have evacuated and are staying with other family members, but as of Tuesday officials hadn’t issued mandatory evacuation orders. A message left at the county emergency management offices on Wednesday morning wasn’t immediately returned.
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