Dive teams search for 2 or 3 people missing since floodwaters swept cars away in Iowa

Up to 3 people missing in storm-flooded Iowa creek

DES MOINES, Iowa — Dive teams are searching for two or three people whose cars were swept away in raging floodwaters from a storm-swollen creek in central Iowa.

Polk County spokesman A.J. Munn says the search began around 5 a.m. Wednesday after the vehicles were swept away overnight between Altoona and Mitchellville, about 10 miles northeast of Des Moines.

Fire Chief Clint Petersen says a couple of hundred residents in the nearby city of Ames have been advised to evacuate their homes and head to higher ground after heavy rain broke the banks of Squaw Creek and Skunk River.

Thunderstorms overnight dumped up to 6 inches of rain on parts of Iowa.