A man rescued from his stalled and flooded vehicle in western Iowa has been flown to a hospital in Omaha, Nebraska. Omaha television station KETV reports the man called for help shortly before 7 a.m. Saturday and told emergency dispatchers he was stranded in a truck that was taking on water in Pacific Junction. Officials say it was almost an hour before rescue crews could reach him. He was flown to Nebraska Medicine around 8 a.m.
His name and medical condition have not been released. Authorities urged people to stay off the roads near rivers and creeks and warned motorists not to drive onto water-covered roads.
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Mandatory evacuation orders have been issued in rural areas of Mills County in southwestern Iowa as the Missouri River overtopped levees there. Mills County Emergency Management officials issued the order Saturday, noting the river wasn’t done rising.
Residents in the evacuation area are required to leave as soon as possible but no later than 4 p.m. Saturday. An emergency shelter has been established north of the area at Salem United Methodist Church in Council Bluffs.
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Travel in western Iowa is still hampered by flooding, and officials there and in eastern Nebraska are urging people not to drive if they don’t need to. The Iowa Department of Transportation’s website says northbound Interstate 29 from the Missouri state line to about 40 miles north near the Pacific Junction exit remains closed due to flooding. Drivers on I-29 are being rerouted onto Interstate 35 in Kansas City, Missouri, north to Des Moines, Iowa, then over I-80 back to I-29 at Council Bluffs.
The detour takes drivers almost 140 miles out of the way.