Iowa man dies when debris from floodwaters pins him in his basement

A 52-year-old man missing in the historic northwest Iowa flooding has been found dead.

Kyle Kreykes' body was found in the basement of his Rock Valley home on Monday, two days after floodwaters rapidly inundated the city, resulting in emergency evacuations. Rock Valley Police Chief Monte Warburton said rescuers were unable to get into Kreykes' home until officials could pump out the water that filled his basement.

Warburton said it appeared the home's foundation had collapsed, pinning Kreykes under debris. He eventually drowned.

"The water had such power it just blew through foundations in homes," Warburton said.

There were no other major injuries in Rock Valley, he said.

Kreykes' death is the second attributed to the flooding in northwest Iowa. William Schulze of Elburn, Illinois, died when his truck was swept away as he attempted to cross floodwaters near Spencer. His body also was recovered Monday.

Warburton said Thursday that the floodwaters had receded from Rock Valley, where the Rock River surged to a record depth of more than 27 feet beginning early Saturday. That was 5 feet over the previous record and 8 feet above major flood stage, which is 19 feet, according to the National Water Prediction Service.

Warburton said some residents were still pumping water out of their basements Thursday but everyone had been able to return home to assess the damage and start to cleanup.

“There’s a lot of homes that are total losses," Warburton said. "But we are very determined that we will get our community back in order.”