Flood in Emmet County, Iowa

The West Fork Des Moines River at Estherville crested at 10.96 ft on May 25 at 5:45 am CDT.

There were several rounds of rainfall over the period starting around May 20 through around May 25. This is when there were two rounds of heavy rainfall along with severe thunderstorms including tornadoes and straight-line winds, detailed in respective severe entries for the month. 60-hour rainfall totals ending May 21 at 7pm were up to 4 to 6 inches over portions of Marshall, Tama, Poweshiek, and Jasper Counties. This led to flash flooding over these areas and all the rainfall that caused the flash flooding eventually made its way into area streams and caused river flooding on several basins across central Iowa including the Iowa River, Des Moines River, and Cedar River. Flooding during this time was extended by additional rainfall due to severe storms on May 24th.