The rains caused flash flooding, and when emergency crews noticed soil erosion near the Manawa Dam, officials began evacuating residents downstream, housing them at the town’s Masonic center and high school. They also evacuated an assisted living facility to a veterans’ home in King, about 20 miles away.
Around 12:30 p.m., the engorged Little Wolf River overtopped the Manawa Dam, Kotenberg said. WGBA video appears to show the river spilling through a broken levee next to the dam as land continues to collapse in the floodwaters.
No one was injured or killed, Manawa Mayor Mike Frazier said at a news conference.
WHAT’S HAPPENING NOW: The U.S. National Weather Service in Green Bay reports a dam failure on the Little Wolf River downstream from Manawa…
Published by NBC26 on Friday, July 5, 2024
The storms formed as a slow-moving cold front and low pressure area that moved through the region between Friday morning and noon. Precipitation has been much higher than normal in the Upper Midwest since spring, leading to widespread flooding.
Last month, torrential rains dumped more than 10 inches of rain on Iowa, Minnesota and South Dakota, causing widespread flooding in the Midwest and High Plains. The torrential rains caused a railroad bridge connecting South Dakota and Iowa to collapse, while the Rapidan Dam near Mankato, Minnesota, collapsed, sweeping away at least one home. The dam remains at risk of partial collapse.
The flooding was made worse by already wet ground from previous months of rain and rising temperatures.
In Manawa, Kotenberg said 6 inches of rain has fallen in the region over the past two weeks, saturating the ground and leaving only increasing precipitation on Friday. He predicts a relatively calm Saturday followed by more storms on Sunday, which he predicts will bring up to half an inch of rain to the region.
Jason Samenow and Scott Dance contributed to this report.
