--
Rain that began Friday night and continued into Sunday created flooding conditions across much of the KETV NewsWatch 7 viewing area.
Share Pics
In Missouri Valley, Iowa, farm fields were covered with water and emergency officials were evacuating some residents from their homes to the Community Center. Firefighters helped evacuate those living in some senior apartments near the flooding.
"A lot of them don't drive, so we went down and tried to get them evacuated by ambulances," said rescuer Bob Erixon.
"I don't want to lose my home and I don't want anyone to get hurt," said Melba Struble as she awaited word on the situation from the Community Center.
The waters climbed much of the day Sunday in Willow Creek and the Boyer River.
"We're just monitoring what's going on, the bridges and the dikes, keeping an eye on whether it's overflowing or the dikes have actually broken," Erixon said.
Rising flood waters were not the only concern. A mudslide took out a shed, and two garages and was just feet from Michael West's home south of Missouri Valley.
"Trees was where they wasn't supposed to be. It's all mangled. It's mangled. There's nothing and there's four feet of mud out there," West said.
Cass County Assesses Damage
In Cass County, Iowa, wind and flooding damage was excessive, residents said. Damage was even greater to the southeast, where authorities said an F-2 tornado struck, tearing a 7-mile path through the county.
Amy Northrup's Griswold business was reduced to a pool of mud and water.
"We didn't get here in time," Northrup said. "At least most of the stuff was on shelves. We'll be able to go on."
Neighbors helped employees clean up, removing files and pulling out furniture.
Elsewhere, the rest of Griswold dug out and hoped to dry out as receding floodwaters left debris on streets and authorities assessed the damage. Some compared it to the floods of 1998.
Emergency managers said about 50 residents who'd been evacuated from their homes remained in local shelters on Sunday afternoon.
Meanwhile, a close eye was kept on nearby rivers and creeks, and storm-ravaged power lines that forced the closing of a highway.
Farms Destroyed By Storm
Some of the most dramatic damage occurred a few miles southeast of Griswold, where a farmstead was devastated. On Sunday, recovery crews were beginning the process of cleaning up.
Two people were at home on the farm when a tornado hit at about 2:30 a.m. Neither was injured.
"One made it to the basement, another under the bed," said rescuer Bill Sage. "It's total devastation up there -- the homes, the buildings."
Duane Schuler and his wife said they are now among those left to pick up the pieces after their farmstead was hit hard, too. A machine shed was leveled and grain bins were ripped were open, amounting to tens of thousands of dollars in damage.
Despite the destruction, the Schulers said they were staying resolute and thankful.
"The house is in intact and we're alive, and everything else," Schuler said.
A teenage boy who was helping clean up a damaged farmstead near Lyman, Iowa, was injured in a fall. His was the only injury reported in Cass County related to the storm.
Rivers Rise In Iowa
There were also reports of flooding in Fremont County, Iowa, where Riverton, Hamburg and Randolph all had damage.
In Shelby County, the town of Harlan was preparing on Sunday afternoon to evacuate one neighborhood. Water was creeping up on the Westside Mobile Home Park, which has experience problems during past flooding.
Harlan officials set up cots at Veterans Auditorium so mobile home park residents would have a safe place to stay.
Highway 34 is closed on the east end of Harlan. On the south side of town, the Nishnabotna River was crossing Highway 59 and running into farm fields.
Cornhusker State Not Spared
Nebraska also saw some flooding.
In Richardson County, highways were back open on Sunday evening, but authorities were monitoring the Nemaha River. If rain predictions are on target, the Nemaha could hit record flooding levels.
The Salt Creek in Saunders County had a breached levee early Sunday. In Wahoo, Highways 77 and 92 were covered in water and impassable. By Sunday evening, the Saunders County Sheriff's Department said those highways were back open.
Omahans Report Damage
Omaha saw its share of flooding damage, too.
The roof collapsed on the Jackson Art Gallery, at 11th and Jackson streets, sending two walls tumbling. Artists were busy on Sunday salvaging what they could.
On the city's north side, near 27th and Titus streets, a mixed-use sewer system was overwhelmed with the volume of rain. It flooded several basements and frustrated neighbors spent the day trying to dry out.
