Iowa man drowns in his basement, bringing death toll in Midwest flooding to at least 3
By Amanda Musa and Kara Devlin, CNN
(CNN) — A man in northwest Iowa drowned in his basement during severe flooding that devastated the Midwest this past week, police said, bringing the death toll in the region to at least three.
The body of 52-year-old Kyle Kreykes was discovered on Monday after he was reported missing by his family on June 21, Rock Valley Police Chief Monte Warburton told CNN on Friday.
Kreykes had drowned in the flooded basement of his home where he lived alone, Warburton said.
Officials could not search Kreykes’s home for several days due to the high water levels, Warburton said. Large pumps were brought in to remove the floodwaters.
President Joe Biden issued a disaster declaration for several Iowa counties Monday, including Clay County.
At least two other deaths have been reported due to the flooding, officials in Iowa and South Dakota said.
In Clay County, a man died after attempting to drive a pickup truck across rapid floodwaters on Saturday in the city of Spencer, according to a news release from the Clay County Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday.
The man, who was from Elburn, Illinois, was swept away and found floating in the Little Sioux River, officials said.
At the time, “recovery efforts were not attempted due to the very dangerous situations,” the release said. Officials recovered the man’s body Tuesday morning.
South Dakota Highway Patrol said on Saturday, an 87-year-old man driving a utility vehicle also died in a flood-related crash near Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
“The driver attempted to turn around, he went backwards over the edge of the washout,” officials said in a news release Tuesday. “The UTV began to roll and the driver was ejected.”
During a news conference Sunday, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem acknowledged the death and asked residents to stay away from flooded areas.
“I want to remind everybody to remember the power of water and the flow of water,” she said. “These are serious flood levels.”
Noem added many upstream river gauges have broken water flow and water level records.
CNN’s Jamiel Lynch contributed to this report.
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