BOONE, Iowa—Heavy rains, in a short amount of time, led to Flash Flood Warning the was allowed to expire Thursday afternoon. Boone County officials report there were gravel roads that received damage from flooding. Most of the roads are reported to be in the north east and south east part of Boone County in the Squaw Creek Watershed and the Big Creek Watershed. The Boone County Engineer’s office reported water over the roads earlier in the day in the 2000 block of 110th Street, 1500 block of Q Avenue, 1900 block of 195th Street, a half mile east of the intersection of 150th Street and X Avenue and in the 900 block of U Avenue. If you are driving on gravel roads, be aware that running water may have washed out gravel and even impacted the roadbed.
Boone County Emergency Management Coordinator Dave Morlan said Squaw Creek rose several feet early Thursday and Big Creek also experienced flooding in low lying areas in southeast Boone County.
The Boone Water Environment Plant in McHose Park had an official rainfall amount of 1.85″ at 8:00 a.m. Thursday. A similar amount is expected to be reported tomorrow, all received in a six hour period. The plant has been processing 2-million gallons of water a day but hit a peak surge of 40-million gallons Thursday morning. It’s expected that they will continue to treat 15-to-20 million gallons each day for the next couple of days. Because the rain fell while employees were on site, they were able to prepare for the surge and the increased flows.