The Latest: Iowa, Nebraska driving hampered by flooding

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Latest on flooding in the Midwest (all times local):

1:30 p.m.

Travel in western Iowa is still hampered by flooding, and officials there and in eastern Nebraska are urging people not to drive if they don't need to.

The Iowa Department of Transportation's website says northbound Interstate 29 from the Missouri state line to about 40 miles (64 kilometers) north near the Pacific Junction exit remains closed due to flooding. Drivers on I-29 are being rerouted onto Interstate 35 in Kansas City, Missouri, north to Des Moines, Iowa, then over I-80 back to I-29 at Council Bluffs.

The detour takes drivers almost 140 miles (225 kilometers) out of the way.

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12:30 p.m.

Nebraska authorities are issuing a mandatory evacuation for some neighborhoods after a levee along the Platte River in the city of Fremont.

Officials ordered residents in certain areas to leave their homes as floodwater rushed in.

Trinity Lutheran and Salem Lutheran churches in Fremont have been opened as shelters.

Crews in parts of Nebraska are using boats to rescue people in floodwaters. The flooding happened after a deluge of recent rainwater and snowmelt was sent pouring over frozen ground, overwhelming creeks and rivers.

Rescue efforts have been hampered by reports of levee breaches and washouts of bridges and roads, including part of Nebraska Highway 92 leading in and out of southwest Omaha. Authorities also confirmed that a bridge on that highway that crosses the Elkhorn River had been washed.

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11:35 a.m.

Rescue and evacuation efforts have been continuing in many areas of eastern Nebraska, where a deluge of recent rainwater and snowmelt was sent pouring over frozen ground, overwhelming creeks and rivers.

Efforts overnight...