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• Had the river overtaken the interstate, the plan was for the water to flow down his street and empty into an empty lot.
• The change in the crest was due to a large amount of water released Tuesday night when a levee failed upstream at Akron, Iowa, said Mike Gillispie, a hydrologist at the National Weather Service in Sioux Falls.
• "Enough water went through the levee failure out into agricultural land there that it lowered the amount of water coming through at peak crest at Sioux City," he said.
• The river had been expected to crest at Sioux City about a foot above the 108.3-foot record set in 1969. Instead, it peaked at 105.6 feet and began dropping.
• As a result, the river in the Sioux City area will stay at a higher level longer than previously predicted, Gillispie said. He expects it to stay above the 99-foot flood stage, the level at which farmland around Sioux City is underwater, into Sunday or Monday.
• He said as long as the area doesn't get heavy rain over the next few days, the water should fall back below flood levels. While there is potential for scattered thunderstorms, he doesn't anticipate widespread rain.
• In Minnesota, heavy rains over several days left farm fields under water and roads washed out. Dams have failed and water has infiltrated homes. Four state parks have been fully or partially closed because of high water.
• "The damage is really unprecedented and very widespread," Gov. Mark Dayton said.
• In Minneapolis, a large section of mud gave way on a cliff near the Mississippi River. The slide occurred not far from a hospital near the University of Minnesota's campus. Minneapolis Assistant Fire Chief Charles Brynteson said the hospital building is set on bedrock and is sound. Two motorists accelerated to safety as the mud and debris were falling.
• "They very easily could have been trapped," he said. "It was close."
• Downstream, the Omaha Public Power District said it will reduce power as it prepares for rising water on the Missouri River. The district's Fort Calhoun nuclear power plant sits about 20 miles north of Omaha, and was surrounded by water during flooding three years ago.
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