2019 Midwestern U.S. floods

Illinois was affected by the flooding, and the Illinois National Guard was activated to assist with the efforts along the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers.[18][19] The Illinois National Guard was released from flood fighting duties on July 29, 2019.[20]

The river crest in Grafton was the fourth highest ever recorded. Cairo experienced over 156 days with waters above flood stage.[1]

In March, record flooding occurred on segments of the Rock and Pecatonica Rivers, and minor to moderate flooding occurred on the Fox, Des Plaines, Kankakee and Illinois Rivers.[21] The Pecatonica River, which has flooded seven times since May 2017, flooded again in October, along with other Chicago area rivers including the Fox River and the Rock River.[22][23] Freeport is seeking funding to buy out flood-prone homes.[22]

Iowa was also affected by heavy rains and flooding. Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed an emergency disaster proclamation March 14.[24] One man was killed in Iowa.[25]

Parts of all nine state parks were closed.[24] Standing water from the spring floods was still present near Iowa roads in mid-September.[26][27]

Governor Reynolds estimated the damage at $1.6 billion, a state record. Reynolds asked the president to declare a disaster in 67 counties.[28][29]

A website was established, 2019 Iowa Floods, to help residents apply for assistance, report hazards, check on levee and road status, and access areas with closed roads.

Western Iowa suffered severe impacts, especially in the Missouri River Valley south of Council Bluffs. There, at least 30 levee failures flooded towns and highways.[30]

In Hamburg, two-thirds of the town was underwater when the bomb cyclone hit.[31] The town lost sewage and gas services, according to city officials.[32] The town's levee, which was in need of repair, was breached. Residents had been unable to raise the $5 million for necessary repairs before the storm, despite releasing a 2012 flash mob YouTube video of residents dancing on Main Street, singing "Levee. Levee. Save us from the river." to the tune of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Proud Mary."[1][33]

Floodwaters damaged the water treatment plant in Glenwood.[34] On April 5, the city of Glenwood was still "trucking in more than 6,000-gallon tanks of water to provide the roughly 275,000 gallons its residents ... [were] using each day."[35]

On April 11, hundreds of homes in Fremont County were still evacuated, and road closures remained in place.[36] Satellite images from the Weather Channel showed the town of Bartlett almost completely underwater.[37] Fremont County farmers lost an estimated "390,000 bushels of stored soybeans and about 1.2 million bushels of stored corn."[38]

One homeowner in McPaul had to wait 180 days for floodwater to drain; the home flooded again five days later. The McPaul exit off of Interstate 29 was still closed in early October, and standing water was visible.[33]

43% of flooded homeowners in Pacific Junction, other parts of rural Mills County, and Hamburg expressed interest in federal buyouts, which have a partial funding match from the Iowa Flood Mitigation Board.[33]

In Eastern Iowa, the Quad Cities spent 96 days with the Mississippi above flood stage levels. In Burlington, the Mississippi rose above its banks for more than 104 days, surpassing its 1993 record.[39]

The Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative (MRCTI) estimated over 2 billion dollars in flood damage.[39]

Interstate 29 was closed in March, and again in May, from Council Bluffs to the Missouri state border and from there to St. Joseph, Missouri,[40][41][42] with portions of the interstate under 15 ft (4.6 m) of water.

On September 20, sections of Interstate-680 and Interstate 29 were once again closed due to Missouri River flooding. Some of the standing water by Iowa roads had been there since the spring floods.[26][27]

Picture taken in Rocheport, Missouri, during the flood of 2019.

The entire community of Craig, as well as parts of St. Joseph, were evacuated,[43] and portions of Interstate 29 were under 15 feet (4.6 metres) of water. On March 21, a state of emergency was issued by Governor Mike Parson, who said:

The rising floodwaters are affecting more Missouri communities and farms, closing more roads and threatening levees, water treatment plants and other critical infrastructure. We will continue to work closely with our local partners to assess needs and provide resources to help as Missourians continue this flood fight and as we work to assist one another.[44]

In Holt County, about 30,000 acres (12,140 hectares) of the 95,000 acres (38,445 hectares) that flooded in spring 2019 were still underwater in late October, leading to concerns of the floodwater freezing during the winter.[12] Corning had flooded more than once by November.[45]

Aerial view of Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska, flooded

On March 14, 2019, the Spencer Dam on the Niobrara River collapsed, releasing an eleven-foot wall of water.[46] The unrestrained flooding which followed destroyed three bridges downstream, including the Highway 281 bridge.[47][37]

In east central Nebraska, residents along the flooded Missouri, Platte and Elkhorn Rivers were forced to evacuate as some locals experienced all-time record flooding. The city of Norfolk evacuated a third of its residents.[48] The Platte and Elkhorn Rivers had overflowed their levees in the greater Omaha region, and some communities were put under a mandatory evacuation order. The Platte River at numerous sites had reached flooding of "historical proportions" with some sites breaking all-time record flood levels by as much as 5 feet (1.5 m).[49] By March 15, access to the city of Fremont was blocked due to all roads being closed in and out of the city.[50] This remained the case days later, with national guard military convoys being set up to get food and other supplies into the city.

Offutt Air Force Base had extensive flooding from the Platte River, inundating 30 buildings and 3,000 ft (910 m) of their only runway.[51] The base received damage that was said to "not be repaired for months", which caused some events to be moved back.[52] Camp Ashland, one of the Nebraska National Guard's main training sites, was also extensively damaged, with 51 of 62 buildings affected. Military representatives stated that the flooding is the worst that the camp has seen in its history, including a serious flood from 2015 that cost 3.7 million in repairs. It took several months to clean and repair the facility to support scaled back operations, with more extensive rebuilding efforts ongoing for the next several years.[53]

Thirty of the one hundred homes in Lynch were destroyed by the flood.[1]

On March 18, Nebraska governor Pete Ricketts declared a state of emergency and stated that the floods caused "[t]he most extensive damage our state has ever experienced."[54]

Flood damage in Nebraska has been estimated at over $1.3 billion, including "$449 million in damage to roads, levees and other infrastructure." Twenty-seven bridges were damaged.[55]

Agricultural damages included "$440 million in crop losses; and $400 million in cattle losses."[56][57] Livestock losses included seven hundred hogs that were drowned on a farm near Fremont.[58] Volunteers from Ohio's Rural America Relief mounted a 10 truck convoy to North Bend with supplies for farm cleanup, "including four Gators to access the saturated fields."[59] After the 2011 Missouri River Flood, "it took years for some affected fields to be cleaned of debris and sand," according to a Nebraska DOT official."[57] Nebraska's agronomists stress the importance of choosing appropriate cover crops for flooded fields which can not be replanted.[60][61][57]

The University of Nebraska announced Flood Recovery Serviceships with the Nebraska Disaster Recovery Service Corps, sending 24 students to affected communities.[62][63]

Widespread spring flooding "damaged homes, public infrastructure, hundreds of roads and thousands of acres of farmland in 19 counties in western, south central and eastern North Dakota," and resulted in $16.6 million in federal funds and state loans.[64]

On October 21, 2019, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum declared a statewide flood emergency, as "unprecedented fall flooding" and rising river levels threatened the harvest.[65] North Dakota Agricultural Commissioner Doug Goehring said, "We probably have in western Minnesota and North Dakota about two billion dollars worth of soybeans that are sitting in water or at least in conditions which may not allow producers to get out there and get them anytime soon."[66]

In March 2019, a powerful blizzard dumped up to two feet of snow in South Dakota, followed by rapidly warming temperatures that left flooding in its wake.[67] Some residents of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation were stranded for days, and about 8,000 people lost drinking water.[68] High water on the Moreau River prompted evacuations on the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation.[69] Pennington County approved a local disaster declaration as a result of a bridge collapse and other damage.[67]

In September 2019, "heavy rains dumped more than four times what is normal in parts of Montana, North and South Dakota and Nebraska."[70][71]

Between September 12–15, 2019, the Big Sioux River overflowed its banks. Three blocks of Dell Rapids, South Dakota were flooded, and up to a dozen homes damaged.[72] Bridges were washed out in Mitchell, which received 7 inches of rain in one night.[73][74] Interstate 90 was shut down between Mitchell and Sioux Falls.[75][76] Baltic, South Dakota, was only accessible via Highway 115.[74] Non-residents were urged to avoid Dell Rapids, Baltic, and Renner until the floods cleared.[77] In Madison, "about 30 people had to be rescued by boats and heavy equipment," after nine inches of rain fell in just two days.[73] Schools in Spencer were closed for two days, and streets were submerged.[70]

On September 17, residents of Dakota Dunes, a development sandwiched between the Big Sioux River and the Missouri River, were encouraged to evacuate as a precaution due to heavy rains, with peak waters expected the following Tuesday."[11]