Millions of Americans sweated through a scorching weekend as temperatures soared across the U.S., while residents were rescued from floodwaters that forced evacuations across the Midwest. One person died during flooding in South Dakota, the governor said.
From the mid-Atlantic to Maine, across the Great Lakes region, and throughout the West to California, public officials cautioned residents about the dangers of excessive heat and humidity. Forecasters said the heat wave will continue early in the week in the Southeast, portions of the South and the Plains.
At the borders of South Dakota, Iowa and Minnesota, floodwaters rose over several days.
In the Sioux City, Iowa, area, a huge train bridge collapsed into the Big Sioux River late Sunday, June 23, an emergency manager said.
The bridge connects North Sioux City, South Dakota, with nearby Sioux City, Iowa, Jason Westcott, an emergency manager in Union County, South Dakota, told KCAU-TV. Some of the trusses collapsed, Westcott said.
Images from local media show a large span of the steel bridge partially underwater as floodwaters rush over it.
In northwest Iowa, 13 rivers flooded, said Eric Tigges of Clay County emergency management. Entire neighborhoods, and at least one whole town, were evacuated, and the Iowa town of Spencer imposed a curfew Sunday for a second night after flooding that surpassed a record set in 1953.
“When the flood gauge is underwater, it’s really high,” Tigges said at a news conference organized by Spencer officials.
Gov. Kim Reynolds declared a disaster for 21 counties in northern Iowa, including Sioux County. In drone video posted by the local sheriff, no streets were visible, just roofs and treetops poking above the water.
National Guard troops helped with water rescues and transported needed medications lost in flooding.
“Businesses are shuttered. Main streets have been impacted,” Reynolds said. “Hospitals, nursing homes and other care facilities were evacuated. Cities are without power, and some are without drinkable water.”
National Weather Service meteorologist Donna Dubberke said parts of northern Nebraska, southeastern South Dakota, southern Minnesota and northwest Iowa received eight times the typical average rainfall. More heavy rain was expected this week.
In South Dakota, Gov. Kristi Noem declared an emergency after severe flooding in the southeastern part of her state. Several highways were closed. At least one person died, Noem said Sunday, without providing details.
Areas south of Sioux Falls, the state’s largest city, had an estimated 10 to 15 inches of rain over three days, weather service hydrologist Kevin Low said.
Several rivers, including the Big Sioux, James and Vermillion, were expected to peak sometime Monday through Wednesday night, June 24-26, the governor said at a news conference.
Emergency management officials in the small South Dakota community of Dakota Dunes on Sunday issued a voluntary evacuation order for the area’s roughly 4,000 residents. Dakota Dunes is near the Nebraska and Iowa borders and is sandwiched between the Missouri and Big Sioux rivers, both of which are expected to crest in the coming days. Emergency management in Dakota Dunes warned residents that a mandatory evacuation could come quickly if flood barriers are breached.
Minor to moderate flooding was expected along the Missouri River, according to officials with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
“As long as the levees hold, we’re not expecting any major impacts,” said John Remus, water management division chief for the corps in the Missouri River basin.
But elsewhere, the heat was the biggest worry.
“It’s more important for people who are going to be outside to stay hydrated, because heat, humidity and low winds, even if you’re in good shape and not really acclimated to it, it could be a danger,” said Bruce Thoren, a weather service meteorologist in Oklahoma. “It happens quickly.”
Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Philadelphia all saw record heat over the weekend.
Last year the U.S. experienced the most heat waves since 1936, experts said. An AP analysis of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that excessive heat contributed to more than 2,300 deaths, the highest in 45 years of records.
Tornadoes on Saturday, June 22, struck in Wisconsin, leveling the historic Apple Grove Lutheran Church, founded in 1893 in Argyle. The pastor said all were safe.
Associated Press journalists Summer Ballentine in Columbia, Missouri; Leah Willingham in Charleston, West Virginia; Julie Walker in New York; Ron Todt in Philadelphia; and Michael Casey in Boston contributed to this report.
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