Vice President Pence will survey the widespread destruction across the Midwest on Tuesday, following “historic” flooding that has killed at least four people, leveled bridges and submerged huge swaths of the region with bone-chilling floodwaters.
Nebraska, Iowa and Wisconsin have declared states of emergency after the most powerful late-winter storm in a decade unleashed torrents of rain that melted snow. The surge overtook rivers and levees, driving thousands of people from their homes.
While floodwaters remain steady in some areas and recede in others, some regions are bracing for “major to historic and catastrophic” flooding to come as rivers vault toward their crests this week, fed by rapid snowmelt throughout the Missouri and Mississippi River basins, the National Weather Service said.
And even where floodwaters recede, danger lurks from fast-moving water ripping across the region.