It's a soggy start to fall for several Midwestern states, where heavy rain has flooded homes, closed major highways and stranded motorists in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa after nearly a foot of rain fell in several location of the Tri-State area.
The rains couldn’t have come at a more inopportune time. Combines will be delayed in several dozen upper grain belt counties as farmers had just begun what is expected to be a record large crop.
A state of emergency was declared by Gov. Scott Walker for 13 western Wisconsin counties that have been drenched by torrential rains since Wednesday. The Wisconsin National Guard is providing assistance to those affected by the disaster which has caused widespread flooding and mudslides in the region, including one death.
Volunteer crews in several southern Minnesota towns were building sandbag walls to hold back rising floodwaters. Residents in Saint Clair received 14 inches of rain in 48 hours. Sections of several area roads were washed away in the deluge.
And some of the residents in the northeast Iowa town of Greene were ordered to leave as the nearby Shell Rock River roared out of its banks. About 60 homes in the northeast Iowa town took on waist-deep flood waters.
Paulette Harris, Greene Iowa: "So when I came home, I saw the front coming, so I thought I'd better put it in the garage, and now my car is underwater. And I have about a foot of water in my basement. It's still three feet lower than it was in '08. I was here for that."
The weekend forecast is for more rain in the region, so fields that escaped the first round of moisture may find themselves moist by Monday.
