WEATHER

Flood warnings persist in western Iowa

The Register

UPDATE, 11:30 p.m.

Tuesday's storms brought winds up to 86 mph, hail larger than golf balls and more than 4 inches of rain in certain areas across southwest Iowa, according to the National Weather Service.

There were several tornado warnings in western and south-central Iowa, but no actual twisters or touchdowns were confirmed.

Gov. Terry Branstad issued a disaster proclamation for Pottawattamie County on Tuesday evening.

The proclamation "allows state resources to be utilized to respond to and recover from the effects of the storms."

No other Iowa counties had requested state assistance as of 8:30 p.m.

The Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management and Governor's Office would continue to monitor the situation, officials said.

Automated tools recorded 4.66 inches of rain in Council Bluffs and 3.79 inches in Lamoni. The heavy rain stalled cars in Council Bluffs and closed urban and rural roads, including a stretch of Iowa Highway 48 near Red Oak.

The damage apparently caused by the wind was widespread. Emergency officials reported heavy tree and power-pole damage in several locations, including in and around Corning in Adams County, in Diagonal in Ringgold County and near Clearfield in Taylor County.

And in Lamoni in Decatur County, a trained reported hail larger than golf balls at 7:23 p.m. A storm chaser also reported larger-than-golf-ball size hail near Diagonal in Ringgold County just after 6:30 p.m.

The strongest storms missed the Des Moines metro area, but southwest Iowa was hit over and over as storms continued to form in Nebraska and move into Iowa.

The Omaha area received heavy rain and flooding, according to the Associated Press. Dozens of residents were evacuated from low-lying homes on the northeast side of Omaha. The Eppley Airfield airport also closed for several hours.

In addition to Iowa and Nebraska, the storm tracked across Kansas, Missouri, South Dakota and Illinois on Tuesday.

Rain will continue into this morning, but the threat of severe weather will be greatly diminished the next few days. Highs in the 70s are expected in most of Iowa today.

Here's the latest need to know information:

ACTIVE WARNINGS:

• Decatur County: Flood warning for all or portions of Thompson River remains in effect until Friday morning.

• Pottawattamie County: Flood warning for West Nishnabotna River at Hancock will be in effect until Thursday morning.

• Montgomery County: Flood warning for East Nishnabotna River at Red Oak until Thursday evening.

• Fremont County: Flood warning for West Nishnabotna River at Randolph until Thursday morning.

Small stream flood warning will be in effect until 7:15 a.m. Wednesday for the following counties: Mills, Page, Montgomery, Fremont and Pottawattamie.

KNOWN DAMAGE AND IMPACTS (Most recent updates on top):

A trained spotter reported 1.5-inch hail near Sidney in Fremont County at 8:55 p.m.

Law enforcement authorities in Red Oak reported downed trees at 7:40 p.m.

The weather service notes that flooding is expected in the southwest Iowa communities of Red Oak, Villisca, Stanton, Grant and Hepburn. Viking Lake State Park in Stanton will likely be inundated by floodwaters.

Terry Landsvork, an observation program leader for the National Weather Service in Valley, Nebraska, said that on Interstate Highway 29 north of Council Bluffs, more than 25 vehicles had their windows shattered by hail. "They were driving along Interstate 29, had no place to go, and whether they were driving or pulled over, they just didn't escape the hail," he said.

Trained spotters in Diagonal report many trees and utility poles are down. Many trees are also down in Corning.

MidAmerican Energy reports about 6,121 customers without power, mainly in the Council Bluffs area.

Alliant Energy reports about 381 customers without power in southwestern Iowa.

Amateur observers reported that roofs had been blown off and grain elevators heavily damaged near Oakland in western Iowa.

Extreme street flooding was reported in Council Bluffs, with water "over hoods of cars" at O Avenue and 16th Street.

Officials also temporarily closed Epply Airfield in Omaha as the storm moved through.

Voters in Pottawattamie County were asked to take shelter and voting was temporarily suspended. There were no reports of injuries. Montgomery County closed and evacuated polls around 6 p.m.

The bad weather has already had an impact on the primary elections in South Dakota. A thunderstorm forced Senate candidate Mike Rounds, who was flying to Rapid City, to land in Pierre.

-- The Associated Press contributed to this report.