Historic flooding kills three, forces hundreds from homes in Midwest

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By Alex Johnson

Heavy rain and melting snow that overpowered the Missouri River forced hundreds of families out of their homes in the Midwest and forced the base that is home to U.S. Strategic Command to sharply scale back operations on Sunday.

At least three people are confirmed to have died in what the National Weather Service called “major and historical river flooding” along parts of the Missouri and Mississippi river basins.

State emergency management officials in Nebraska said a 50-year-old farmer was swept away while helping someone else escape from a vehicle in floodwaters on Thursday. They said an elderly resident also died in rising waters after having refused to leave home; no further details were immediately available.

In Iowa, Aleido Rojas Galan, 55, died after he was submerged in floodwaters on Friday in the town of Riverton, the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office said.

Flood warnings and advisories remained in effect Sunday evening across eastern Nebraska, southern Wisconsin and parts of Iowa. The National Weather Service said major flooding was expected to continue across the region as late as Wednesday.

The Missouri River reached 30.2 feet in Fremont County in far southwestern Iowa on Sunday, breaking the record by 2 feet and topping levees in the towns of Bartlett and Thurman. A levee was breached on the Platte River near North Bend, northwest of Omaha, Nebraska, on Sunday afternoon; authorities urged all residents to move to higher ground immediately.

source: nbcnews.com