SIOUX CITY – A railroad bridge crossing the Big Sioux River collapsed during a round of historic flash flooding in northwest Iowa. KELO reports raging waters ripped apart the structure connecting Sioux City and North Sioux City. While residents report the water wasn’t as high as the 2011 floods, it appears the speed of water flows led to the collapse. Dozens of Iowa towns have suffered extensive flooding damage from six to 12 inches of widespread rainfall that fell last week. Additional rounds of rainfall could impact the area this evening and again on Thursday.

DES MOINES – Gov. Kim Reynolds announced that President Biden has approved Iowa’s request for a Major Disaster Declaration for Iowa counties where significant damage was sustained from severe storms, flooding, straight-line winds, and tornados that occurred beginning on June 16th and continuing. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the U.S. Small Business Administration are now authorized to provide assistance to Clay, Emmet, Lyon, Plymouth, and Sioux Counties. The governor will continue to request additional counties as more information is collected. Residents in these counties can now apply for the FEMA Individual Assistance Program, which provides disaster-affected homeowners, renters, and businesses with programs and services to maximize recovery, including assistance with housing, personal property replacement, medical expenses, and legal services.

LENOX – Several southeast Iowa sheriff’s departments assisted with a robbery and eventual apparent suicide Monday.  At approximately 1:30 p.m., the Taylor County Sheriff’s Office responded to a bank robbery call at the Iowa State Savings Bank in Lenox. Reports indicated that a male subject entered the bank demanding money and then left on a motorcycle. The subject was pursued into Adams County, but fled at a high rate of speed. The subject lost control and crashed into a farm field and then fled on foot. Several law enforcement agencies, including the Taylor County Sheriff’s Office, Adams County Sheriff’s Office, Adair County Sheriff’s Office, Cass County Sheriff’s Office, and the Iowa State Patrol, converged on the area and attempted to locate the person in question As law enforcement narrowed in on the subject’s location, the male fired one round, causing a fatal self-inflicted wound. The body will be transported to the Iowa Office of the State Medical Examiner’s Office where a forensic autopsy will be performed later this week.