CHEROKEE, Iowa — Because of storm-related road closures, this year’s Fourth of July travels might take a little more planning than some are used to.
According to Iowa State Patrol, as of Tuesday morning, far west and northwest Iowa are looking at the most road closures. Some major closures include I-29 and I-680. Multiple state and county roads have been impacted.
Road conditions could get worse in other areas. As of Tuesday afternoon, Local 5's weather team reports that storms could potentially bring in some flash flooding in south, southeast, and eastern Iowa.
Iowa State Patrol's Sergeant Alex Dinkla says this could bring more closures.
“Today I saw a 100 foot tree floating through water," he said.
Towns across Iowa have been filled to the brim - one of them being Cherokee, Iowa. At one point, much of the county was nearly impossible to drive through.
“We did not have a single way through Cherokee County," Sheriff Derek Scott said. He says roads have since gotten better, but highway 59 is still closed. This has caused congestion at alternate routes.
“I took the detour around this morning and it took me a good five minutes waiting for traffic to slow down before I could pull out,” Scott said. He expects that highway to remain closed over Fourth of July weekend.
Although Scott labels the east end of town safe to drive through, he encourages people to avoid that area because of the clean-up going on.
Remember, if you see flooded roads, don’t go past the barricade.
“Just a matter of a few inches of water is enough to sweep away an automobile," Dinkla warned. Some people have already tried.
“There are people already here in western Iowa and northwest Iowa that have chosen to go around those barricades and found themselves stranded. Their car has been disabled. We’ve even had to rescue people out of their cars and from the rooftops of their cars," Dinkla said.
He warned that flood water can be deeper than it appears and can even erode streets. Dinkla recommends checking the internet for road conditions before you get in the car.
Iowa's 511's website will give you up-to-date road conditions on state roads. Many counties have their own 511 site as well, according to the Iowa Department of Transportation. If you click on a closed road, a detour route will pop up.
Iowa D.O.T.'s southwest region hasn't been impacted too much in terms of travel concerns. That's according to Traffic Operations Engineer Austin Yates.
There are plenty of alternate routes and, according to Yates, they're not congested at all.