ONAWA, Iowa (AP) – The Iowa Department of Transportation will be closing the Onawa rest areas along Interstate 29 in western Iowa so they can be used as staging areas for crews battling Missouri River flooding. The department says the northbound rest area will be closed Wednesday morning, the southbound rest area sometime Thursday.

On Tuesday, crews will begin stockpiling rock in the truck parking area of the northbound rest area. The stockpiling will take place in the southbound rest area on Wednesday. The department says the rest areas will remain closed up to 10 days.

Onawa is 33 miles south of Sioux City.