Extreme weather ravaged the Midwest late last week and over the weekend, overwhelming infrastructure from Colorado to Nebraska.
"All along Midwest rivers Sunday, residents and officials prepared for flooding that already has killed at least two people, forced mandatory evacuations, breached dams and levees and flooded a military base," report Pam Wright and Ron Brackett.
Offutt Air Force Base near Omaha, Nebraska, was restricted to "mission essential personnel" on Sunday after about a third of the base was cut off by rising floodwaters from the Missouri River. Thirty buildings have been inundated with as much as 8 feet of water, Tech. Sgt. Rachelle Blake, a 55th Wing spokeswoman, told the Omaha World-Herald.
The National Weather Service reported on Sunday that the flooding was likely the result of a levee breach on the Missouri River.
According to a separate article by Shannon Van Sant, the worst flooding in the Midwest in decades was originally caused by the "bomb cyclone" that struck late last week, causing blizzards in Colorado that shut down runways at the Denver International Airport for only the fourth time.
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