For the second time in three days, a large portion of the northwest Iowa town of Rock Valley is under a mandatory evacuation order. The mayor ordered residents across a wide section of town to leave Friday due to flooding…and more storms Sunday prompted more evacuations last night. Mayor Kevin Van Otterloo says the town’s pumps are overwhelmed:
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The mayor has also ordered a travel ban within the Rock Valley city limits.
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Governor Kim Reynolds visited Rock Valley on Saturday and the site of last week’s train derailment. More than 30 rail cars jumped the flooded tracks. Fourteen of the cars leaked some 230-thousand gallons of oil. The governor says B-N-S-F railroad is in the clean-up process:
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Reynolds says the railroad is working to access the wrecked cars so that the remaining fuel can be offloaded before the cars can be moved.
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Reynolds says the Iowa National Guard is standing by, but she doesn’t think troops will be needed for flood assistance or for the train derailment cleanup process.