Tornadoes and Flooding in Iowa, June 4 to 18, 2008

A tornado touched down 5 miles south southeast of Pacific Jct and tracked to 1/2 mile south of town. The tornado caused scattered tree and farm outbuilding damage along its track.

This tornado tracked from 5 miles southwest of Emerson to 1 mile south of town. The tornado caused significant damage to an acreage about 2 miles south of Emerson. Siding and part of the roof were torn from a house, and windows were broken with large limbs and branches strewn about. Two barns and a machine shed were also destroyed. Other tree and farm outbuilding damage was noted along the tornadoes path.

Emergency management estimated thunderstorm wind gusts in excess of 60 mph.

Four train cars were derailed near Villisca due to thunderstorm wind gusts estimated at over 60 mph.

Thunderstorm winds estimated at over 60 mph ripped the siding off of a house and blew a car trailer on top of a pickup truck.

Accompanied by 50 to 60 mph winds.

Rainfall of 3 to 5 inches fell over much of southwest Iowa during the late afternoon and overnight hours of June 4th and 5th. The heavy rain caused the East Nishnabotna River to flood in Montgomery county. The river at Red Oak crested at 21.9 feet around 845 am CDT on June 5th. Flood stage is 18 feet. The river at Red Oak was above flood stage from around 115 am until 430 pm on June 5th. The flooding closed several county roads and flooded agricultural lowlands.

Rainfall of 3 to 5 inches fell over much of southwest Iowa during the late afternoon and overnight hours of June 4th and 5th. The heavy rain caused the East Nishnabotna River to flood northwest Page county. The river at Red Oak, which is just upstream in Montgomery county, crested at 21.9 feet around 845 am CDT on June 5th. Flood stage is 18 feet. The river at Red Oak was above flood stage from around 115 am until 430 pm on June 5th. The flooding in Page county damaged crop land and levees along the river, flooded a park and some basements in Shenandoah and took out a county road and bridge. The flooding also prompted the evacuation of a mobile home park in Shenandoah.

Rainfall of 3 to 5 inches fell over much of southwest Iowa during the late afternoon and overnight hours of June 4th and 5th. The heavy rain caused the West Nishnabotna River to flood. The stage at Randolph crested at 23.2 feet at 1245 pm CDT on June 5, flood stage is 19 feet. The river at Randolph was above flood stage from around 145 am on the 5th through 715 am on the 6th. The flooding closed a few county roads but otherwise just affected agricultural lowlands.

Rainfall of 3 to 5 inches during the late afternoon and overnight hours of June 4th and 5th caused the Nodaway River to flood in Page county. The river at Clarinda crested at 26.6 feet at 1015 pm CDT on June 5th, flood stage is 19.0 feet. The river at Clarinda was above flood stage from around 245 am on the 5th until 930 pm on June 6th. The flooding caused the closure of Highway 71 near the Missouri border and several county roads. One bridge sustained major damage as did several of the county roads that were flooded. At least several hundred acres of agricultural land were also flooded. Clarinda lost part of its waste water treatment plant due to flood waters and Braddyville lost its lagoon system and also sustained damage to its wells.

Heavy rainfall on June 4th over much of southwest Iowa, and subsequent significant rain every few days for the next week or 10 days, pushed the Nishnabotna River out of its banks for a 2 week period beginning around 315 am CDT on June 5 and ending around 815 pm on June 18th. The river at Hamburg reached a 29.3 foot crest at 430 pm on June 14th. Flood stage is 23 feet.

Federal levees protected the town and most area highways from the flood waters as did the placement of up to 50,000 sandbags on the levee's low areas. However, Highway 275 near Hamburg and many county roads were closed for a time due to flood waters, and agricultural lowlands in the region were flooded. In addition, since both the Missouri and Nishnabotna Rivers were in flood, low areas that normally pumped water into those rivers were unable to do so adding to ponding and additional flooding after each rain.

Heavy rain over sections of the Missouri River basin on June 4th through June 8th caused another crest to occur along the Missouri River from near its confluence with the Platte River near Plattsmouth, Nebraska, downstream to near Nebraska City. Although those points are in Nebraska, the flooding also affected farmland on the Iowa side. Flooding along the Missouri River in Fremont county from this crest began during the morning hours of June 5th. The river near Nebraska City eventually reached a crest of around 22.7 feet at 6am CDT on June 13th. Flood stage is 18 feet. The river finally dropped below flood stage at Nebraska City during the early evening hours of June 15th. Besides flooding agricultural lowlands, some county roads were closed in the area due to flooding, especially near the confluence with the Nishnabotna River which was also in flood.

Heavy rain over sections of the Missouri River basin on June 4th and 5th caused another crest to occur along the Missouri River from around its confluence with the Platte River near Plattsmouth, Nebraska, downstream to near Nebraska City. Although those points are in Nebraska, the flooding affected farmland on the Iowa side of the Missouri River and also flooded Lincoln's Landing and Mintle's Landing south of the Plattsmouth Bridge. Flooding along the Missouri River in Mills county from this crest began during the mid afternoon hours of June 5th. Although the river briefly dropped below flood stage during the overnight hours of June 7th, additional heavy rains on the 7th and early on the 8th pushed the river back above flood stage. The river near Plattsmouth eventually reached a crest of around 31 feet at 415pm CDT on June 12th. Flood stage is 26 feet. The river finally dropped below flood stage at Plattsmouth during the afternoon hours of June 14th. Besides the flooding of the recreation areas and agricultural lowlands, a few county roads were also closed near the river.