NEW HARTFORD - Marge Amos and her friend, Leroy Bolton, 71, were evacuated Sunday night, escaping high water that inundated their community.

"I didn't think it was going to get this bad," Amos said.

The pair rode in a boat out of town at about 8 p.m. They were helped into the back of a pickup headed for evacuation buses.

Bolton said there was about 6 inches of water in his home. If it was only him, Bolton said he would have simply stayed upstairs. But Amos requires a machine to help with her emphysema, and when the electricity goes out, the equipment doesn't work.

That's when he decided to leave and heard a boat engine approaching. He signaled to get the operator's attention.

"I flicked my light switch," Bolton said.

Rescue workers started going door-to-door removing residents who needed a ride to dry land, said Larry Bass with the Butler County sheriff's office. Other residents called dispatchers with addresses.

Steve Drinkwine of Shell Rock EMS said two or three busloads of residents were evacuated from New Hartford and only one injury was reported. Details were not available.

Bass estimated up to 75 percent of the homes in the town were in water. A dike behind the school broke at about 5 p.m., and water streaming into the community, he added.

Many residents talked about leaving New Hartford in the afternoon and finding the water drastically higher when they returned after 6 p.m. Lorrie Martin was one of them.

She stood on the train tracks on the south end of town pondering how to retrieve her 21-year-old son's medical records and how to rescue two horses.

"I was going to walk in the back way, but I don't think that's possible," Martin said.

Chad Shelton was cut off from his home on West York Street. Neighbors said his residence was an island.

The swift waters that overtook Vail Avenue turned back Drew Debuhr, 18, who was heading to his parents' home on Diagonal Road. He was trying to deliver medicine for a sick horse.

"I need a boat," he told a friend over his cell phone.

Bolton, a lifelong New Hartford resident, said the last time he saw flooding this bad in New Hartford was in 1947 when he was 10 years old.

Other counties are dealing with similar problems and probable record flood levels.

"I think somewhere down the line we need to re-evaluate these 100-year events because we've had them every few years. I must be five or six hundred years old," said Kip Ladage, coordinator of Bremer County Emergency Management.

Concerns today including road closures, including U.S. Highway 63, and the Cedar River.

"The river is rising and rising fast," Ladage said.

He urged Bremer County residents who live near rivers to heed warnings, particularly in Waverly.

"There will be severe impact. With considerable certainty, a number of people will be displaced," Ladage said.

"The people need to pay attention to those advisories and get their belongings in order," he added.

According to Sheriff Rick Lynch, more than 60 gravel roads in Floyd County are covered by running water or were damaged by flooding. Not all hazards have been marked, so officials are discouraging travel in Floyd County.

Travel was also not recommended in Allamakee, Butler, Chickasaw, Delaware and Winneshiek counties. In Chickasaw County, officials reported six bridges closed because of damage caused by flooding.

"Just use extreme caution when traveling," said Ken Rasing, emergency management coordinator in Chickasaw County.

He added 70 places were blocked by high water at times, including U.S. Highway 18.

"In some of the places, it was three and four feet deep," Rasing said.

Bridget Moes, emergency management coordinator in Floyd County, said up to 8,000 sand bags were distributed, many going to Rockford. The county also ordered 10,000 more, and Moes said officials are working on details about where bags and sand will be available.

In Bremer County, officials in Waverly declared a flood emergency Sunday, predicting the Cedar River will crest at 17.2 feet on Tuesday. The projection is higher than the crest of 16.8 feet set in 1999.

Sandbagging operations are set up at Southeast Elementary, St. Paul's Lutheran Church and the Waverly Public Services Facility.

Officials are encouraging residents in the city's floodplain to secure their properties and prepare to evacuate this evening. For information about the floodplain, go online at waverlyia.com or call (319) 352-6247.

The Wapsipinicon River in Independence was rising by an average of 3 to 4 inches per hour this morning, said Rick Wulfekuhle, director of the Buchanan County Emergency Management. The river was at 15.5 feet. Flood stage is 12 feet.

"We're in critical stages all over," Wulfekuhle said.

Buffalo Creek south of U.S. Highway 20 was also out of its banks, which led to several road closures. Watersheds all over Northeast Iowa received abundant amounts of water from the storm, which was making it difficult to project how high the rivers will rise.

The city of Winthrop also sustained some damage from straight line winds. The winds caused a power outage near Quasqueton.

Officials predicted the events unfolding will be historic.

"To me, I think it's worse than what we have had in the past," Raising said.

Near Osage, Wayne Fredericks never thought he'd see the day when his farm would flood.

"It looks like we own a lake home," he said. "We've been pretty much trapped here. We had 2 feet of water on our driveway and I can see the roads are covered."

He had more than 5 inches of rain in his gauge overnight Sunday.

Many of the acres in Mitchell County, already soaked by two weeks of intermittent rain, were flooded. Iowa Highway 9 east of Osage was closed Sunday morning, and other rural roads were shut down or washed out.

Fredericks said many farmers he knows considered themselves lucky until recently. Now, he isn't as confident about his crops.

"We're entering a critical time. In about a week we need to get in the fields and get nitrogen on. Corn will need to be sprayed. In another week or so, we'll need to start spraying beans. That could be hard if this keeps up," he said.

In St. Ansgar, residents are being asked to restrict their use of water and sewer services. Sunday's heavy rain overloaded the city's sewage lagoon, according to officials.

Not far away in Floyd County, a levee on the west side of Nora Springs broke Sunday. Flooded roads prevented anyone from entering or leaving town.

In Sheffield, 40 residents were evacuated from the Sheffield Care Center on Sunday as high water approached. They went to Ridge Stone Golf Club until other arrangements could be made. By afternoon, the people were in ambulances, buses and private vehicles to places in Hampton, Rockwell, Belmond and Clear Lake.

"Everybody is safe and sound," said Chris Ruger, the center's administrator.

Ruger added the evacuation - a first for the center - went smoothly "because of the wonderful volunteer support we received."

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