Flooding in Iowa

We've had a TON of rain this Spring.  I was gone over the weekend (at NCMR) and when I returned, my rain gauge that I emptied before my trip, was completely full.  That's at least 6 inches of rain over the weekend.  Most of that was probably from Thursday night.  A bunch of my friends had water in their basements.  We were lucky.  Our sump pump ran and kept the basement dry.  That's the first time it EVER ran since we moved in 3 years ago -- even though we've had big rain storms before.

Des Moines city officials have decided to close the downtown bridges today in the expectations that the water will go over the bridges in the next day or so!  (more here)  The worst flooding hasn't quite reached Saylorville lake yet, but when it does, it's expected to overflow and then flow into Des Moines.

I walked out to the downtown Des Moines bridges at about 1:00 this afternoon and took a few photos.  The amphitheater was completely flooded and the arches of the bridges were already almost filled to the top.  They closed the Walnut bridge at 2:00 and the other three (Court, Grand, and Locust) will be closing at 6:00 this afternoon.  They will be closed to cars and pedestrian traffic.

Live river level alerts here.