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Flooding worries grow after dam fails, evacuations underway
The Lake Delhi dam in eastern Iowa failed as rising floodwater ate a 30-foot-wide portion of the road, causing water to plunge 45 feet to the river below and threatening towns.
Northeast Iowa has been inundated with torrential rain in recent days with as much as 9 inches being reported in some locations. The heavy rain has pushed the Maquoketa River to 23.92 feet — more than 2 feet above its previous record of 21.66 feet in 2004.
Jack Klaus, a spokesman with the Delaware County emergency management office, said warning sirens were sounding in the town of Hopkinton as water began to surround homes there Saturday afternoon. Areas below and above the dam had been evacuated, including numerous cabins and homes — as many as 700 — above the dam because of high water.
"There's going to be significant losses of property there," Klaus said.
'Catastrophic'
The road breach sparked officials’ worst fears of “a catastrophic release of water,” David Fink, Lake Delhi dam operation manager, told the Des Moines Register. “It’s going to have a hell of a lot of velocity.”
The Des Moines Register described the destruction in its news report online. "Chunks of the two-lane highway broke off in 15- and 30-foot blocks and washed away. The iron guard rail snapped and flapped in the wind like a party streamer as the water rushed by," the newspaper reported.
The floodwater was expected to make its way south to Monticello, where events at the Jones County Fair have been canceled because the river runs near the fairgrounds.
There also were some nearby neighborhoods that could be affected.
North of Lake Delhi, the river flooded several buildings in downtown Manchester and utility service was turned off to about 50 homes affected by the flooding.
Klaus said there was significant damage to county roads and the county had run out of barricades to block them off.
"We're warning people to stay off the roads," Klaus said. "We can't guarantee their condition."
'Sudden shot of water'
Donna Dubberke, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Davenport, said areas below the dam will see an initial crest in the river caused by the dam's failure followed by a secondary crest as the high water above the dam made its way downstream.
"There will be initial wave from the sudden shot of water and a secondary shot behind it from the rainfall," she said.
Lake Delhi was created in the 1920s by damming the Maquoketa River. The resort area now has about 700 cabins and homes. Areas below and above the dam had been evacuated after heavy rain has pushed the river to 23.92 feet — more than 2 feet above its previous record of 21.66 feet in 2004.
