Flash floods are the focus of the final day of Iowa’s Severe Weather Awareness Week. Flash floods can follow extremely heavy rainfall from thunderstorms, or they can occur due to a dam or levee break. According to the National Weather Service, urban areas can be prone to flooding in short time-spans because those areas have impervious surfaces that don’t allow the water to go into the ground, and then runs off to low spots very quickly.

Washington County Emergency Management Coordinator Marissa Reisen advises people to turn around, don’t drown, if they encounter a flooded road. She says flash floods are dangerous, “They develop very rapidly. It’s usually as a result of heavy rains. And as little as six inches of standing water with a current can knock you off your feet. And it only takes about a foot-and-a-half to wash away a small car. So if there’s ever standing water, don’t go into it on foot or in your vehicle.” Those roads under the water could be seriously compromised. Reisen said that’s been seen in western Iowa already this spring, where roads have been washed out. She adds that due to the already saturated ground, eastern Iowa is prone to flooding this spring.