Manchester, Independence brace for record flooding

The towns of Manchester and Independence are bracing for what could be record flooding as another round of rain could bring one to five inches of rains by late Saturday morning.

“This is five times now since 93. This is the fifth time,” said Gerald Kelchen, 72, Manchester.

The water is the sight to see, but for many who have called Manchester home for years, this is just another chapter.

And the fifth time is the worst. This flood is set to break records with all the rain Friday night and predicted into Saturday morning,

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“This is the highest its ever been,” said Mark Reetz, 42, Manchester as he stands outside the chiropractic clinic he works at. “I've been here since 97, and all the recorded ones, and yeah its awful.”

The Maquoketa River in Manchester is also forecast to reach record levels and rise to 23.5 feet Saturday morning. The previous record was 21.66 feet in 2004.

Reetz and his family, and anyone else with an extra hand, threw sandbags against walls. It's a community effort.

“One time and you're tired of it. You don't have to have it twice to be sick of it,” said Reetz.

In Independence it's a different river, but the same result. The Wapsipinicon is forecast to reach 24 feet, that's six feet higher than predicted Friday afternoon, and two feet higher than the old record in 1999.

The workers at the Dairy Queen in Independence are used to the attention; everyone here knows if the water gets high, this place could get wet.

“We were actually on our way to a Cubs game this weekend. We were going to be there all weekend, but now we're here,” said Nicole Rathbun, 27, Independence.

The National Weather Service is forecasting widespread thunderstorms that could drop an additional one to five inches of rain north of Highway 34 by Saturday morning.

“We potentially have another very bad flash flooding situation on our hands for tonight,” KCRG-TV9 chief meteorologist Joe Winters said. “Our current complex of storms will meet up some moving in from the northwest resulting in a long night of rain mainly along and north of Highway 20.

Winter said that the Maquoketa River at Manchester, although cresting right now, could easily go up for a second crest if heavy rain occurs tonight.

- By Justin Foss

PHOTOS: Eastern Iowa flooding

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A recap of a wild Friday in Manchester, Dyersville and Dubuque

Wallace Rundle was up late Thursday night, watching radar tracks on three laptops as the storm bore down on Oelwein.

“It was just phenomenal,” said Rundle, 70, Oelwein's fire chief. “It was something I'd never seen. It was a narrow strip of very intense rain, and it looked like the whole thing was going through Oelwein.”

Soon enough, it did.

“It looked it was just a torrent of water coming down,” Rundle said.

By storm's end Friday, 10 inches of rain had fallen on the Fayette County city of 7,000 that also was hit by torrential rains two weeks ago.

“Our floods just come from the surrounding farmland,” Rundle said. “The water raises very quickly.”

The story was repeated in the cluster of cities on and near Highway 20 - Independence, Manchester, Dyersville, Dubuque. Emergency crews on Friday helped evacuate people from low-lying areas in Dyersville, where the massive Basilica was surrounded by water but unharmed.

A lot of people got wet, but no one was injured.

Manchester was asking for additional help with sandbagging last night, where businesses were bracing for a record crest on the Maquoketa River. A crest of 22.5 feet was predicted between 11 last night and 1 a.m. today. Flood stage is 14 feet.

Highway 13 through Manchester was detoured at noon Friday, with streets near the river closed and other county roads closed because of dangerous conditions.

The Dubuque County Conservation Board closed county parks through the weekend, so officials could assess damage and begin cleanup.

Some areas of Dubuque County recorded 9 inches of rain overnight Thursday, and Gov. Chet Culver on Friday issued a disaster proclamation for the county, thereby releasing state assistance for residents and public entities.

Highway 52 north of Dubuque remained closed last night, though water was receding and the road was being cleaned of mud. A Department of Transportation official said it was flash flooding along the highway.

KCRG-TV9 meteorologist Joe Winters reported rainfalls of 4 to 5 inches in the area along Highway 20, with higher totals in some places because of “storm training.”

“Training,” he said, “happens when storms continue to move over and over the same place in a short period of time,” causing the flash flooding that happened Friday morning.

Dyersville

Flash flooding on both sides of the North Fork of the Maquoketa River that runs through the community may have damaged 125 to 150 homes.

Dyersville firefighters said the river crested at 14 feet Friday morning, or 4 feet above flood stage. Five crews used boats to rescue three families.

Among them was Pat Valant, who said he's been through similar floods in past years but none that came up so fast that he needed help getting out.

Oelwein

Basements throughout the city flooded, and City Hall had to be evacuated, Fire Department Capt. Mike Thomas said.

“I got a call from my landlord to see if our basement was flooded,” said Krystle Hall, who lives on high ground just north of downtown Oelwein. “I went downstairs, and we saw the water was up to the second step of our basement. Our furnace is destroyed, and our water heater is destroyed.”

By noon, most of the water near downtown had receded.

Dave Franzman, Chris Earl, Orlan Love, Steve Gravelle and Katie Wiedemann contributed to this report.

Flash flooding from as much as 10 inches of rain Friday closed roads, caused flash flooding, set records and required at least some people to leave their homes.

Here are reports from across the region.

- By Dave Franzman, Chris Earl, Orlan Love, Steve Gravelle and Katie Wiedemann

Sandbagging, rising water in Manchester

By Josh Baynes, KCRG-TV9