Weeks of rain have caused flooding in parts of Iowa and forced people to evacuate their homes, while most of the U.S. awaited relief from a return of extreme heat on Saturday.
Sirens rang out at 2 a.m. in Rock Valley, Iowa, population 4,200, and hundreds of homes were ordered to evacuate after the Rock River could no longer withstand the rains that pounded the area. The city is running out of tap water because its wells are not working.
Mayor Kevin Van Otterloo said a provincial helicopter was on its way to the rescue but was called off when the boat reached the stranded residents.
“It’s raining so much here,” he said. “Last night we got four inches of rain in an hour and a half. Our land just can’t take it anymore.”
Gov. Kim Reynolds declared a disaster for Sioux County, which includes Rock Valley. Drone Video Images posted by the local sheriff showed no roads, just rooftops and tree tops above water.
Elsewhere in the U.S., the heat and humidity continued to be miserable. About 15 million people were under the highest level of heat warnings, and another 90 million were under heat watches, according to the National Weather Service. Millions of people across the country were under heat alerts. Their lives are in turmoil every day. Abnormally high temperatures.
Last year, the United States experienced its worst heat wave since 1936, experts say. Associated Press analysis of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data The study found that the heatwave killed more than 2,300 people in the United States, the most in 45 years of record.
Temperatures are expected to reach around 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.8 degrees Celsius) in Washington, D.C. and Richmond, Virginia, while Philadelphia, Newark, New Jersey, Columbus, Ohio, and Detroit are expected to see temperatures in the high 90s.
In New York state, hospital visits for heatstroke recently increased by 500% compared to the average number of days in June, according to the Department of Health.
“We’re still seeing lingering heat waves in parts of the Ohio Valley and the Northeast,” said Weather Service meteorologist Mark Chenard. “At least the eastern and northeastern U.S. will see some relief by the start of this week, but overall we’re still seeing above-normal temperatures over much of the country into next week.”
In southeast Michigan, DTE Energy said 8,300 customers were still without power Saturday morning due to storm-related outages, down from 75,000 homes and businesses earlier this week.
Flooding from the rain was a problem in southeastern South Dakota and northwestern Iowa. Several highways were closed, including a major section of Interstate 29 south of Sioux Falls, where there were no alternative routes. Sioux Falls, South Dakota’s largest city, received more than 7 inches (17.7 cm) of rain over a three-day period.
In Iowa, power was lost at the Hawarden and Spencer wastewater treatment plants, which serve a combined population of 14,000.
Aiden Engelkes said he and his boyfriend grabbed clothes, their cat and bottled water and fled from their flooded first-floor apartment in Spencer to a friend’s dry room on the fourth floor.
“It’s terrifying,” Engelkes, 20, said, adding that friends who live across the street were on their roofs waiting for help.
In New Mexico, Heavy rain and flood warnings led authorities to order mandatory evacuations of some residents and set up shelters for those displaced.
The National Weather Service issued a flash flood emergency for Friday night into early Saturday morning, with affected areas including the New Mexico cities of Las Vegas and communities near Albuquerque.
Residents of the New Mexico mountain village of Ruidoso who were displaced by wildfires will be allowed to return starting Monday, but life will not return to normal.
“People should bring a week’s worth of food and drinking water,” Mayor Lynn Crawford said on Facebook.
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Hanna reported from Topeka, Kansas. Associated Press writers Julie Walker in New York City and Ken Miller in Oklahoma City contributed to this report.
