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Rain pounds Iowa; some evacuations overnight

DURANGO — Low-lying areas in northeastern Iowa saw flooding in the aftermath of torrential rains overnight, including the tiny town of Durango which saw about half its population evacuated overnight.

Six of the community’s 10 households were evacuated around 3 a.m. Saturday, Dubuque County Emergency Manager Tom Berger said.

“They just went to a local business that’s on higher ground,” Berger said Saturday. “Some of them stayed in their houses to try to deal with the flooding.”

No one was injured, and no rescues were needed, he said.

The town, just northwest of Dubuque, saw about half a foot of rain in a six-hour period, starting around 11 p.m. Friday, Berger said. That deluge forced the Little Maquoketa River out of its banks into Durango’s streets and basements. The Little Maquoketa empties into the Mississippi River, and had already receded by midday Saturday, allowing the evacuees to return to their homes, Berger said.

A stretch of Highway 52 North about a mile north of Dubuque was covered by floodwaters and remained closed Saturday, he said.

The National Weather Service issued a flood warning for Dubuque, Buchanan and Delaware counties in northeastern Iowa until midnight Sunday after up to 8 inches of rain fell in parts of the area.

Dubuque was among the communities dealing with minor flooding.

City officials said Dubuque Public Works staff discovered three overflowing manholes from the city’s sewer system in central Dubuque around 1 a.m. Saturday. The overflows were eliminated with an hour, officials said.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources cautioned people to keep children and pets away from the area.

Streets and basements in Guttenberg and Fredericksburg also were flooded, and the town of Sumner was saddled with both flooding and a citywide power outage Saturday.

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