Jun 26, 2024 - Science

In photos: Historic Midwest flooding leaves trail of devastation

Rebecca Falconer

Onlookers observe high water levels at the Rapidan Dam on the Blue Earth River in Mankato, Minnesota, on Monday, June 24, 2024. A dam holding back swollen flood waters in Minnesota was at risk of failure Monday as intense weather buffeted much of the US. — Onlookers observe high water levels at the Rapidan Dam on the Blue Earth River outside Mankato, Minnesota, on June 24. Photo: Ben Brewer/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Much of the Midwest was under flash flooding and tornado warnings into Wednesday morning, with large hail the latest threat to the region that's been inundated with heavy rains in the searing heat this week.

The big picture: Days of historic flooding rains that have hit Nebraska, South Dakota, Iowa and Minnesota have prompted evacuations and water rescues and breached levees, and nearly three million people were under flood warnings and watches on Wednesday morning.

The floods have killed at least one person in South Dakota and another in Iowa, where President Biden declared a disaster declaration.
A major data outage that hit the National Weather Service on Tuesday evening during the severe storms meant the NWS Weather Prediction Center's site was still not updating as of early Wednesday, but the agency's local sites were all still working.

A NASA satellite image of a flooded area in the Midwest. — NASA Earth Observatory said in a June 24 statement that over a foot of rain had fallen on parts of South Dakota and Iowa. Climate change is altering the frequency and severity of extreme precipitation that leads to flooding, per Axios' Andrew Freedman. Photo: NASA Earth Observatory

High water levels at the Rapidan Dam on the Blue Earth River in Mankato, Minnesota, on Monday, June 24, 2024. A dam holding back swollen flood waters in Minnesota was at risk of failure Monday as intense weather buffeted much of the US. — In Minnesota, officials raised concern on Tuesday about the future of the 100-year-old breached Rapidan Dam that they feared before waters peaked was in "imminent failure condition" and which experienced "partial failure." Photo: Ben Brewer/Bloomberg via Getty Images

A herd of beef cattle is roaming across an open pasture in Mt. Horeb, Wisconsin, as an incoming storm front is moving in. Wisconsin is being struck with numerous strong storms this spring/summer. — Cattle in Mt. Horeb, Wisconsin, roam as an incoming storm front moves in. The state has endured numerous strong storms this spring and summer. Photo: Ross Harried/NurPhoto via Getty Images

An aerial view of flooding around Monona County, Iowa. Multiple roads remain closed and the Monona County Sheriff's Office wrote in a June 25 Facebook post: "At this time we do not foresee any changes with the flooding." Photo: Monona County Sheriff's Office/Facebook

Two DOT Twitter photos showing a flooded Interstate 29 in South Dakota, saying: "Interstate 29 Closure Update (Tuesday, June 25, 2024 – 9:15 a.m.) The Interstate 29 closure remains in effect this morning between exits 2 and 26 in southeast South Dakota. Find detour maps at https://SD511.org " — The northbound and southbound lanes on southeastern South Dakota's Interstate 29 reopened on the afternoon of June 25 following flooding, but many of the state's roads remained closed, according to the state's Department of Transportation. Photo: SDDOT/X

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In photos: Historic Midwest flooding leaves trail of devastation

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