Rising rivers to put more communities at risk of flood disaster in central US
A drone captured shocking footage of dozens of homes underwater in Bellevue, Nebraska, on March 19. The region has been buried with water over the last few days due to the bomb cyclone that hit earlier this month.
The flooding disaster that continues to unfold over the central United States is likely to continue well into April, putting more communities and farmland at risk.
The disaster was set in motion during the second week of March, when a 'bomb cyclone' struck the region, dropping heavy rain and triggering massive snowmelt, which led to an excess of runoff into rivers and waterways.
The flooding has led to several deaths, the evacuation of an entire town in Missouri and over $1 billion in damage thus far.
The majority of Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in southwestern South Dakota has been under water for days, threatening the livelihood of many as access to food, clean water and health care becomes increasingly difficult to obtain.
Several deaths have occurred in the past couple of weeks, but officials have yet to determine if impacts from the river flooding are to blame.
With few resources in terms of transportation, rescue resources and manpower, recovery is expected to be prolonged.
More lives and property will be threatened by rising water levels in the days and weeks to come.
"River and stream flooding will continue over a large portion of the middle to upper Mississippi Valley, Corn Belt and parts of the central Plains right into April," said AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Jack Boston.
While rivers are receding across the hardest-hit areas of eastern Nebraska and western Iowa, water draining downstream is causing the Missouri River to rise across northeastern Kansas and Missouri.
The Missouri River at Rulo, Nebraska, hit a record crest of 28.14 feet late Wednesday, which exceeded the previous high mark of 27.26 feet set on June 27, 2011.
Farther downstream at Atchison, Kansas, the river's water levels crested just shy of the record (31.63 feet) on Friday.
The surge of water will cause modest rises across the balance of the river in Missouri, with minor to moderate flooding forecast to continue this week.
Portions of the Missouri River reached major flood stage by Monday, near the towns of Waverly and Miami, Missouri.
Meanwhile, the span of the Mississippi River remains at various flood stages.
Water levels are on the decline south of the Mississippi River's confluence with the Ohio River. However, water rises are forecast farther north as runoff from an impressive snowpack enters the basin.
There are 2-10 inches of water locked up within the snow cover across the northern tier of the Central states, according to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski.
The Mississippi River at St. Paul, Minnesota, reached major flood stage early on Monday. It is forecast to continue to rise another 4 to 5 feet by the end of March, with no receding in sight.
"It is possible that many parts of the Mississippi River will remain above flood stage through the spring and into the first part of the summer in the slow-moving natural disaster," Sosnowski said.
This map depicts the locations where there is a greater than 50-percent chance of major, moderate or minor flooding during March through May, 2019. (NOAA)
The flooding is likely to ensue even if the snowmelt is not accompanied by one or more soaking rain events.
"As AccuWeather has been warning about for weeks in terms of flooding in the Central states, expect significant flooding along the Red River of the North as well this spring," Sosnowski said.
Motorists are reminded never to drive through floodwaters or around barricades marking off a flooded, closed road. Instead, turn around and find a safer, alternate route.
In the short term, no major storms are forecast to roll through the nation's midsection.
There may be another larger storm that will roll through the central U.S. with rain during the latter half of this week.
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