By: Matt Scher, matts@977thebolt.com
Humboldt Co., IA – The National Weather Service has issued a flood warning for the West fork of the Des Moines River.
The flood warning includes the area from Bradgate south to Fort Dodge and goes into effect immediately and will continue until further notice. The river level is expected to reach over 16 feet which is nearly six feet above the flood stage of 10 feet at the Sumner Ave. Bridge. This level is
predicted to crest on Wednesday June 26 at 7:00 am. Until then we will see rivers continue to rise rapidly. The previous record was a crest of 15.4 feet.
This flooding is being caused by rainfall along the West branch of Des Moines River in northern Iowa, Minnesota and South Dakota. Any rainfall that this area sees over the next 24-72 hours could greatly impact these levels.
The Humboldt County Emergency Operations Center will open for flood operations effective immediately and will be providing updates every morning at 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. through the event.
Sandbags will be made available to those households in need that are in the impacted area. On Saturday, June 22 at 1:00 p.m., filled sandbags will be available on a first come first serve basis at the Humboldt County Secondary Roads facility, located at 2221 220th St. in Humboldt.
Humboldt County EMA says citizens should be prepared with a flood plan if you are within the area of impact.
For the latest river and stream observations and forecasts refer to weather.gov/desmoines/water.