Wednesday morning's rain forced Highway 30 in Iowa to again be closed between Woodbine and Denison, and with more rain expected during the night, the situation is only going to worsen.

Only local traffic can go through. With fields already flooded, farmers are worried. "There's a lot of damaged crops out there,” says farmer John Behrendt of Dunlap. "Terraces washed out."

That has emergency management officials and residents concerned, especially those living along the Boyer River.

“Right now we're dealing with about three inches of rain that fell this morning in the Dunlap area in Crawford County, so we're watching the rivers down in this direction," says Iowa Emergency Management’s Greg Miller.

Everyone is taking it seriously. "They're concerned about the bridges and the dirt underneath getting taken away by the water," says Miller. The water is rising fast. "It's come up quite a bit just since I've been here for the last hour, probably two-to-three feet."

The trains have stopped, the road is closed and the farm fields have been transformed into lakes. It seems the situation is only going to get worse. "This morning we weren't ready for that and tonight they're talking three-to-five inches in our area," says Miller.

Residents will need to be ready. "The people that live in the flood-prone areas need to really keep an eye on the weather and the water, especially in the Boyer River and the East Boyer River here in Crawford County and be ready to evacuate. Might not be a bad idea to put some of their belongings in the second floor."

In the meantime, farmers are watching their fields get swallowed up by rain. "Ten to 12,000 acres between Denison and Missouri Valley that was underwater right along the Boyer right here,” says Behrendt.

And the future is not looking good. "Some of this stuff will not get replanted, it's going to have to dry out and I know Jim Flowers says we're in this pattern until the middle of July."

Problems continue elsewhere across Iowa. A mandatory evacuation is under way in Waterloo because of rising water. Officials are telling residents and businesses in the downtown area to seek higher ground.

Mayor Tim Hurley says as many as 60 homes will be affected with about half that many businesses. He says it's not a recommendation or an encouragement, but mandatory. "We need you out of there."

The order is not because of levee breaches or river water, but because of a backup of stormwater. Hurley says volunteers are being pulled out of the area. National Guard soldiers are blocking bridges in and out of downtown.

A sandbagged levee continues to hold in Cedar Falls, but the city needs more volunteers to help shore it up. The levee is protecting the city's downtown from the raging Cedar River, which peaked at 14 feet above flood stage early Wednesday.

Mason City's water is back on, though it's not safe to drink. Water service returned Wednesday, four days after the city's water treatment plant was flooded when a levee along the Winnebago River broke.

A power outage is a problem in the eastern Iowa town Vinton, which is on the Cedar River in Benton County. The city lost power around midmorning. Also, residents in a 15-block area on the northeast side of town near the river have been told to evacuate because of rising water.

Gov. Chet Culver has declared 54 Iowa counties state disaster areas. The declaration activates the state's individual disaster assistance program, which helps low-income Iowans recover from flood damage.

Iowans with household incomes of up to 130 percent of federal poverty guidelines may apply for a grant of up to $3,300.

To check current flooding conditions, click here for Iowa and here for Nebraska.