Deputies with the Page County Sheriff’s Office, Sunday, arrested 42-year old Jeffrey Wade Bartles, of rural Coin, for Driving while Barred/Habitual Offender. Bartles was arrested in Shambaugh as a result of a traffic stop conducted by the Page County Sheriff’s Office. He was transported to the Page County Jail. Bartles later posted $2,000 bond, and was released pending future court proceedings.

DES MOINES – Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds’ office has released information to help Iowans impacted by the recent flood. Applying for assistance to recover from the recent flooding in Iowa is easy and can be done via phone or online.

Call  – Call 1-800-621-3362. You can call between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m., seven days a week. People who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability and use a TTY, can call 800-462-7585.

Go Online – Go online to disasterassistance.gov. You can apply online 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

When you apply by phone or online, you’ll be walked through the kinds of assistance that are available and what you need to do to apply.  You’ll also be assigned a case manager to help you navigate the process.

As of today (Monday), residents in Fremont, Harrison, Mills, Monona, and Woodbury counties have been included in a Presidential Disaster Declaration, making their citizens eligible to apply for this assistance. However, if you’ve been impacted  by the recent flooding and you don’t  live in one of those counties, register anyway. By doing this, you could help the citizens in your county become eligible for assistance.

Who can apply? Anyone impacted by the flooding that started in Iowa on March 13.

WESTERN IOWA — DNR conservation officers and park rangers have responded in droves providing crucial equipment and fulfilling extraordinary public safety rescue missions.

Since Thursday, March 14, more than 34 DNR conservation officers and two DNR park rangers from across the state have responded to western and southwestern Iowa, working collaboratively in two-officer teams per boat from dawn to dusk. Those officers have performed rescue missions via DNR boats saving 31 people, 17 dogs, 9 cats, and one iguana.

Notable stories from the field:

• On March 14, DNR conservation officer and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services refuge officer responded by boat to rescue two non-ambulatory people trapped in their home by the floodwaters in Missouri Valley. Working with other emergency personnel, the officers broke out the window to the room where the victims were located to find both victims suffering from severe hypothermia and going in and out of consciousness.  During the rescue mission, the officers were faced with high winds and dangerous whitecaps making the rescue much more difficult.  Both people were rescued and taken to a local hospital and survived.
• On March 16, DNR conservation officers responded to Riverton to rescue two people trapped by the floodwaters after they drove around road closed barriers and their vehicle took on flood waters. One man had climbed a tree to escape the water and was clinging to it when officers arrived to rescued him. He was suffering from severe hypothermia and was transported to a hospital for treatment and survived. While trying to rescue the other man, officers held his head above the 34-degree water for nearly 40 minutes. The man received emergency medical attention but died on the way to the hospital.
• Other critical public safety missions provided so far by the DNR officers include transporting Mid-American Energy officials around towns and areas inundated by flood waters to shut down electricity, transporting other officials with assessing damage to public facilities and water treatment plants, assisting emergency management officials with assessing damage to levees and other infrastructure, as well as DOT with assessing structural integrity of I-680 bridges.

The DNR will continue to assist officials with equipment and public safety critical missions as well as provide expertise and resources as the focus eventually turns to clean-up and rebuilding.

HAMBURG, Iowa – A do not use advisory is currently in place in Hamburg advising residents to only use the water to flush toilets and avoid all other uses of the water. Over the weekend, DNR staff assisted the City of Hamburg in sampling an emergency test well that was recently drilled with hopes of getting an emergency well finished later this week to provide water pressure until the Hamburg water treatment plant can be repaired from the flood damage. At this time, the quality of the water from that emergency well is unknown; therefore, residents are urged to avoid use under the “do not use” advisory.

Residents of Glenwood are urged to continue conserving water, although residents should boil the water and use only for basic needs. Water continues to be transported in from Shenandoah and Red Oak to maintain pressure of the system and an emergency well is currently under construction. In the meantime, residents are urged to delay use of washing machines, dish washers, and other uses so that the system can maintain treatment.

Council Bluffs Police Chief Tim Carmody says “The Council Bluffs Police Department wants to thank everyone that has donated to the victims of the historic flooding. After speaking with the volunteers running the relief centers they have an overstock of clothing. At this time we are asking to temporarily suspend clothing donations. We are still accepting non-perishable foods, cleaning supplies, personal hygiene items, and water.”

The Chief added, “It will take months for these families to recover from this tragedy. We are completely humbled by the level of generosity of Council Bluffs and surrounding areas. It has been an awesome sight to see our lobby literally filled to capacity with donations. We have taken down several shipments to Mills County, and we have another 4 or 5 shipments just to clear out our lobby. Once the storerooms are full in Mills and Fremont Counties we will suspend collections until they are needed again. Thank you all again, and keep the donations coming.”

The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office has released a report on arrests and/or incidents that occurred over the past couple of weeks. Authorities say last Thursday, Deputies arrested 20-year-old Tristan Michael Herrera, of Shelby. Authorities were dispatched to Shelby for a road rage complaint between parties and after further investigation it was determined that Herrera was charged with Simple Assault, and Interference with official acts both simple misdemeanors. Herrera was transported to the Shelby County Jail and currently being held under $1000 cash/surety bond.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Some residents in a suburban Des Moines neighborhood say they can’t access schools, work or emergency services for hours at a time because of idling railroad trains. Wayne and Rita Brasel live near Avon Lake, between Des Moines and Carlisle. Wayne Brasel tells the Des Moines Register that they’re among about 25 residents who become stranded when workers load and unload wind blades and turbine parts onto Union Pacific Railroad cars.

The Brasels say Union Pacific trains have blocked road access in the past, but the problem worsened when the Nebraska-based railroad built the Wind 2 Rail distribution center in 2017.
Union Pacific spokeswoman Kristen South says the company was unaware of the issue with the distribution center. South says the railroad will work with residents and businesses to find a solution.

Interim Atlantic Parks and Recreation Department Director Bryant Rasmussen reports the walking trails ARE OPEN at the Schildberg Recreation Area, but they are asking that you use the WEST parking lot only! The east parking lot will remain CLOSED as well as N. Chestnut St. and Iowa Avenue. Rasmussen says you should use caution when walking on the connected trail from Olive Street west to the Schildberg Rec Area, as mud from the flooding left on the trails can be extremely slick.

In addition, Rasmussen reports the gates to Sunnyside Park will open by 4-p.m. today (Monday), but use great caution as you drive through the park, due to gravel and debris on the streets. Please be alert for walkers, joggers, disc golfers and children playing. The tennis courts are open and ready to use by the public for tennis, only. The restrooms in the parks will not be open until a later date, due to the risk of freezing temperatures at night, and frozen pipes.

Rasmussen and the Parks Board ask you to enjoy Atlantic’s parks, but please respect the properties, as they are for everyone to use and enjoy.

DES MOINES – As a result of President Trump’s Presidential Major Disaster Declaration for public and individual assistance for residents of Fremont, Harrison, Mills, Monona and Woodbury counties in Iowa, disaster unemployment assistance (DUA) is now available in those counties. DUA expands eligibility for unemployment benefits and provides assistance to the self-employed including business owners and farmers.

Iowa Workforce Development will hold public events to assist individuals in filing the claims and those dates and locations will be announced shortly.  More information is available at  https://www.iowaworkforcedevelopment.gov/, or contact us at 1-866-239-0843 for assistance.  The website will be updated as new information becomes available.

BROWNVILLE, Neb. (AP) — Officials say the swollen Missouri River’s water level has dropped far enough that a Nebraska nuclear power plant no longer is reporting a low-level flood situation.
The Nebraska Public Power District declared a “notification of unusual event” March 15 at its Cooper Nuclear Station near Brownville, about 59 miles south of Omaha. The notification is the lowest and least serious of four emergency classifications established by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for nuclear power plants. The district says it means simply that: Conditions are not ordinary.

The district’s Mark Becker said Monday that the plant never stopped generating power, because the rising river water stopped 4 inches (10 centimeters) short of the level at which the reactor had to be shut down as a safety precaution. The river’s rapid rise was fueled by snowmelt and storm runoff from a late-winter weather system.