March 17 (UPI) — A Nebraska man died in Iowa this the weekend when the vehicle he was in was swept up by floodwaters in the region, authorities said.
The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office said Aleido Rojas Galan, 52, died on Friday after he was traveling in a vehicle with two other people and they attempted to drive around a barricade in he town of Riverton, Iowa, where they got caught in flood waters.
Galan died while being airlifted to a hospital in Lincoln, Neb., after he and another man were rescued from the floodwaters where a boat found them clinging from a tree. The third man was found in a ditch about half a mile from the other men.
The other two men were recovering at an Omaha hospital.
Galan’s death was the second confirmed person to have died due to a flood-related incident last week after James Wilke, 50, died in floodwaters near his home on Thursday.
On Saturday, Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts said a third of the state is experiencing flooding and warned people not to drive in the water.
“We don’t want anyone to get trapped,” he said.
Ricketts and U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., said they were in contact with President Donald Trump about the flooding and Sasse said he also spoke to Vice President Mike Pence.
A so-called “bomb cyclone” moved through the region, bringing heavy rains that combined with natural snow melting in Nebraska, causing the flooding throughout the area.
