Midwest Floods Damage Roads, Bridges

Heavy rains led to severe flooding in several Midwest states this week, taking out some major roads and rail bridges and causing millions of dollars in damages, news services reported.

The National Weather Service predicted crests of 10 feet above flood stage along the Mississippi River, and higher over the next two weeks, the Associated Press reported.

In Wisconsin, where Gov. Jim Doyle declared a state of emergency in 30 counties, the westbound lanes of Interstate 94 west of Milwaukee were being shut down and rerouted where the route crosses the Rock River near the towns of Johnson Creek and Lake Mills, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels asked the U.S. Department of Agriculture to declare farm disasters in 44 counties because of crop and livestock losses, while damage in southern Indiana was estimated to reach $126 million, the Tribune said.

All four lanes of U.S. 50 near the Daviess-Knox county line in Indiana were flooded, AP said.

A portion of a rail bridge that crosses the Cedar River in Waterloo, Iowa, was swept away by floodwaters, the Tribune reported. The bridge is used by the Iowa Northern Railway to transport tractors from the John Deere Tractor Works to Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Click here for a list of Iowa flood-related road closures. (Iowa Department of Transportation Web site.)