While crops in other parts of Iowa are doing well, some farm fields in northwest Iowa remain under water, and fences have been washed away. Damage assessments begin.

Gov. Kim Reynolds has issued a disaster proclamation for 27 Iowa counties, and an expedited Presidential Disaster Declaration has been approved after widespread flooding and severe storms inundated much of the state in late June.

Parts of northwest Iowa re­ceived up to 15 inches of rain over two days, damaging more than 2,000 properties and prompting emergency evacuations.  

Flooding during the June 20-23 weekend was the result of heavy rains, overflowing rivers and dam and levy breaches that overwhelmed communities downstream.

Iowa’s agricultural community was significantly impacted as historic flooding was reported in far northwest Iowa, including Lyon, Osceola, Dickinson, Sioux, O’Brien, Clay, Plymouth, Cherokee, Emmet and Palo Alto counties.

Pictured above: Gary Twedt


Lyon County Farm Bureau member Gary Twedt farms near the South Dakota and Minnesota borders in Larchwood. He said his area in western Lyon County received 13 inches of rain over a few days, flooding fields and washing away fencing for his cow/calf herd.

“Saturday we spent all day moving cow/calf pairs in the pastures to ...