Des Moines River (East Fork) near Algona
Major Flood Stage: 22 feet
Moderate Flood Stage: 18 feet
Flood Stage: 17 feet
Action Stage: 13 feet
Record Crest:
22.7 feet on 04/01/1993
Impacts
- 22 feet: US 169 near and north of Saint Joseph floods. Many bridges over the Des Moines River in the area may be threatened with washouts. Many roads across Kossuth county may be closed
- 20 feet: Portions of US 18 flood. Water enters the parking lot of the shopping center north of US 18 and west of the river.
- 19 feet: Water affects US 169 south of Algona. US 169 near Saint Joseph will be cut off.
- 17 feet: US 169 south of Algona is threatened and some rural roads flood.
- 16 feet: Widespread flooding of agricultural land occurs.
Des Moines River (West Fork) At Humboldt
Major Flood Stage: 14 feet
Moderate Flood Stage: 13 feet
Flood Stage: 10 feet
Near Flood Stage: 7 feet
Record Crest:
15.4 feet on 04/14/1969
Impacts
- 14.5 feet: Water affects houses along W River Dr.
- 13 feet: Flooding affects streets from South 13th Avenue southward.
- 12 feet: The Murray bridge is closed west of Rutland. Groundwater threatens the pump room at the water plant.
- 10 feet: Water impacts some homes along Country Club Drive. Sandbagging occurs at the water treatment plant.
- 8 feet: Water affects the city park.
Des Moines River (East Fork) At Dakota City
Major Flood Stage: 28 feet
Moderate Flood Stage: 24 feet
Flood Stage: 20 feet
Near Flood Stage: 18 feet
Record Crest:
24.02 feet on 06/21/1954
Impacts
- 28 feet: Water affects the Humboldt County Museum just northeast of the Dakota City bridge.
- 24 feet: Water affects the Dakota City bridge. Water also floods 20650 acres of farmland north and south of town.
- 22 feet: Water affects the Dakota City bridge just south of town.
- 20 feet: Water affects the city park and large amounts of agricultural land. The city of Dakota City is situated on locally high ground and is generally not affected by flooding at this stage.
- 16 feet: Water affects the Martin/Marietta gravel pit.
Des Moines River At Fort Dodge
Major Flood Stage: 17 feet
Moderate Flood Stage: 16 feet
Flood Stage: 10.5 feet
Near Flood Stage: 9 feet
Record Crest:
20.3 feet on 06/23/1947
Impacts
- 17 feet: Water reaches the bottom of the railroad trestle approach.
- 15 feet: Some residences in Lehigh flood.
- 12 feet: Campgrounds in the downstream parks between Fort Dodge and Lehigh are affected.
- 10 feet: Roads to residences in Fort Dodge along the river flood.
Des Moines River At Stratford
Major Flood Stage: 27 feet
Moderate Flood Stage: 25 feet
Flood Stage: 19 feet
Near Flood Stage: 14 feet
Record Crest:
29.80 feet on 06/22/1954
Impacts
- 19 feet Water affects 157th Street on the west side of Fraser.
- 18.8 feet Water affects the 400 block of Juniper Road…west of Fraser. Water also affects the 1100 block of 155th Street…east of Fraser.
- 17.8 feet Water affects the lower Ledges road. Water also affects 155th Street east of Fraser and Juniper Road north of Fraser.
- 14 feet Water primarily affects adjacent lowland areas.
Des Moines River At Saylorville Reservoir
Impacts:
- 915.5 feet: This is the top of the Saylorville Dam.
- 892.83 feet: Water reaches the low beams of the Iowa 415 bridge.
- 892.02 feet: The Iowa Hwy 415 bridge is closed.
- 890 feet: This is the top of the Saylorville Dam spillway when pneumatic crest gates are used. Without the crest gates…the top of the spillway is 884 feet.
- 886 feet: US 30 west of Boone floods.
- 884 feet: This is the top of the Saylorville Dam spillway when pneumatic crest gates are not used. If the pool approaches…or is forecast to exceed 884 feet then pneumatic crest gates can be used to raise the spillway elevation to 890 feet.
- 870 feet: The main entrance to Jester Park floods.
- 858 feet: Ledges State Park Road floods.
- 847 feet: Northwest Jester Park Drive is closed.
Des Moines River At 2nd Ave Des Moines
Flood Categories
Major Flood Stage: 30 feet
Moderate Flood Stage: 26 feet
Flood Stage: 23 feet
Near Flood Stage: 19 feet
Record Crest: 31.7 feet on 07/11/1993
Impacts:
- 37.2 feet: This is the top of the Birdland and Central Place levees at 2nd Avenue.
- 33 feet: Levee closures occur across 2nd Avenue.
- 30 feet: Levee closures occur across Grand Avenue, Locust Street, Walnut Street, and Court Avenue in downtown Des Moines.
- 28.5 feet: Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway is closed from Urbandale Avenue to Euclid Avenue.
- 26.5 feet: Euclid Avenue is closed from Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway to 16th Street.
- 25 feet: The levee is closed across Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway north of Clarkson Avenue.
- 23 feet: Birdland Park floods.
- 20 feet: Birdland Drive is closed from Saylor Road to 6th Avenue.
- 18.5 feet: Low lying sections of the Neal Smith Trail in Birdland Park flood.
Des Moines River At SE 6th St Des Moines
Flood Categories
Major Flood Stage: 30 feet
Moderate Flood Stage: 26 feet
Flood Stage: 24 feet
Near Flood Stage: 20 feet
Record Crest:
35.6 feet on 06/13/2008
Impacts
- 37.3 feet: This is the top of the levee on the downstream side of Southeast 6th Street.
- 35 feet: Water completely fills the grass bowl of the Simon Estes Amphitheater.
- 34 feet: Water surrounds Principal Park and approaches its entrances.
- 30 feet: Water from the Des Moines River causes backwater impacts along portions of Fourmile Creek in the Vandalia Road and South Pleasant Hill Boulevard areas.
- 28.5 feet: Hartford Avenue is closed from Southeast 22nd Street to Southeast 30th Court.
- 24 feet: The bike trail is closed east of Water Street. Portions of other bike trails are also affected.