An angel statuary graces a yard near Hansen Lake Friday, March 22, 2019, in Bellevue, Neb. Residents were allowed into the area for the first time since floodwaters overtook several homes. Flooding in Nebraska has caused an estimated $1.4 billion in damage. The state received Trump's federal disaster assistance approval on Thursday. (Kent Sievers/Omaha World-Herald via AP)
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ST. LOUIS (AP) - Flooding concerns are starting to ease in hard-hit places in in the Midwest, but experts warn that with plenty of snow still left to melt in northern states, the threat could persist for months.
Rainfall and some snowmelt spurred flooding blamed in three deaths so far, with two men in Nebraska missing for more than a week. Thousands were forced from their homes in Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri. The damage is estimated at $3 billion. That figure is expected to rise.
As temperatures start to warm, snowmelt in the Dakotas and Minnesota will escalate, sending more water down the Missouri and Mississippi rivers and their tributaries.
Lt. Col. James Startzell of the Army Corps of Engineers is urging those who live near rivers to keep a wary eye.
Steve O'Donnell works to open a skylight while standing in floodwaters inside a home Friday, March 22, 2019, in Bellevue, Neb. Flooding in Nebraska has caused an estimated $1.4 billion in damage. The state received Trump's federal disaster assistance approval on Thursday. (Kent Sievers/Omaha World-Herald via AP)
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Steve O'Donnell exits his parent's flooded lake house in the Hanson's Lake area Friday, March 22, 2019, in Bellevue, Neb. Flooding in Nebraska has caused an estimated $1.4 billion in damage. The state received Trump's federal disaster assistance approval on Thursday. (Kent Sievers/Omaha World-Herald via AP)
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A wayward basketball hoop is seen behind a flooded home Friday, March 22, 2019, in Bellevue, Neb. Flooding in Nebraska has caused an estimated $1.4 billion in damage. The state received Trump's federal disaster assistance approval on Thursday. (Kent Sievers/The World-Herald via AP)/Omaha World-Herald via AP)
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Tim Bazar stands on the back deck of his flooded house Friday, March 22, 2019, in Bellevue, Neb. Flooding in Nebraska has caused an estimated $1.4 billion in damage. The state received Trump's federal disaster assistance approval on Thursday. (Kent Sievers-/Omaha World-Herald via AP)
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This Wednesday, March 20, 2019 aerial photo shows flooding near the Platte River in in Plattsmouth, Neb., south of Omaha. The National Weather Service is warning that flooding in parts of South Dakota and northern Iowa could soon reach historic levels. A Weather Service hydrologist says "major and perhaps historic" flooding is possible later this month at some spots on the Big Sioux and James rivers. The worst of the flooding so far has been in Nebraska, southwestern Iowa and northwestern Missouri. (DroneBase via AP)
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