A few areas of Story County are still flooded due to heavy rainfall over the Fourth of July weekend.
Cambridge and Maxwell were hit the hardest, taking on about 11 to 12 inches of rain from Thursday night, July 2, to Friday morning, July 3, Story County Emergency Management Coordinator Melissa Spencer said. She did not know whether that broke a rainfall record in Story County, since emergency management has been busy working through the flooding.
A second round of storms occurred Friday night through Saturday morning, July 4. Six inches of rain drenched Nevada and Colo overnight.
Most of the creek and river water has receded, but there’s still some standing water in areas, Spencer said.
She said a “significant amount of water” flooded the Story County 4-H grounds and the city park in Maxwell near Indian Creek.
“The benefit there for the city of Maxwell is after the floods in (1993), they were able to use federal government money to buy out the houses,” Spencer said. “So there was not the impact to homes in Maxwell that had happened previously due to water coming out of Indian Creek.”
A few homes did experience flash flooding from the sheer amount of water moving across the county, Spencer said, with reports of water in basements in communities like Ames, Nevada and Maxwell.
“We have been taking reports over the weekend for several communities that experienced those high water, high rainfall amounts,” Spencer said. “The communities have been actively working to protect the storm sewer systems and trying to make sure that that water does not back up into homes.”
Flooding forces a few road closures in Story County
One Story County road − 220th Street between 680th and 690th Ave., just northwest of Colo − was still closed as of 8:30 a.m. on Monday, July 6.
The most significant road closure was the northbound ramp from I-35 to Nevada and Ames due to water over the road, Spencer said. Though the interstate stayed open, the ramp was closed for several hours on the morning of Saturday, July 4.
Indian Creek in Maxwell also overflowed onto Highway 210 for several hours on July 4, temporarily closing the road.
“There were quite a few just gravel roads impacted that weren’t entirely unexpected, but those were probably the two most major road closures that we had,” Spencer said.
Skunk River floods near Elkhart
The South Skunk River east of Elkhart jumped its banks over the weekend, flooding farmyards, acreages, crops and ditches nearby along NE Yoder Drive.
The flooding stranded some heavy machinery in one yard, and cattle near the river were choosing to wade in shallow water in a shady patch as temperatures reached about 80 degrees late Monday morning.
Also near Elkhart, NE 80th Street, the road to Chichaqua Bottoms Greenbelt, was closed at NE 134th Avenue due to water over the road.
Governor issues disaster proclamation
Gov. Kim Reynolds issued a disaster proclamation for Story County, as well as Jasper, Osceola and Polk Counties.
The proclamation will remain in effect for 30 days, allowing state resources to be used for storm recovery. It activates the Iowa Individual Assistance Grant program and the Disaster Case Advocacy program.
The Iowa Individual Assistance Grant Program provides grants up to $7,000 for households with incomes up to 200% of the federal poverty level. Grants can be applied to home or car repairs, replacement of personal property or food and temporary housing expenses.
The Disaster Case Advocacy Program “addresses serious needs related to disaster-related hardship, injury, or adverse conditions,” according to a state press release. The program has no eligibility requirements and closes 180 days after the governor’s proclamation.
Story County residents can report damages at https://ia-state.orioncentral.com/SelfReporter. They may also self-report damages directly to Story County Emergency Management.
(This article was updated to add a gallery, new information and a video.)
Celia Brocker is a government, crime, political and education reporter for the Ames Tribune. She can be reached at CBrocker@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: A few Story County roads remain closed after days of flooding
Reporting by Celia Brocker and Ronna Faaborg, Ames Tribune / Ames Tribune
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By Celia Brocker and Ronna Faaborg, Ames Tribune | USA TODAY Network
