One still missing in Des Moines flash flooding

UPDATE: One person was missing after raging floodwaters swept three cars off a road near Des Moines early Wednesday.

Emergency crews found 10 of the 11 people who were in the vehicles about 4 a.m. when the storm-swollen Mud Creek washed them off the road between Altoona and Mitchellville, said A.J. Munn, the emergency management director for Polk County.

Those rescued had been clinging to trees and hanging onto logs.

Munn said four were taken to the hospital. The fast-flowing waters were hampering efforts to find the final passenger, he said.

"Divers can't enter the water because it's too dangerous. It's moving too swiftly," Munn said.

Doug Phillips, a division chief with the Polk County Sheriff's Office, said the creek is usually only 3 feet deep and 10 feet wide. Now, divers checking the water as they wait for it to recede can't touch the bottom using 6-foot poles.

Early Wednesday morning, "it looked like a river," Phillips said. "I mean, it was horrendous."

Thunderstorms have hit Iowa for three consecutive nights, sending rivers and creeks rolling over their banks. The National Weather Service said 2 to 4 inches of rain fell on central and eastern Iowa over night, with up to 6 inches in some spots.