Wanda and Randy Bliek awoke on Saturday to the sound of water lapping against the walls of their home in Rock Valley, Iowa. The couple rushed to their pickup truck and drove onto the street, but surging water pushed them against the curb. Unable to open the truck doors, they said, they escaped through the windows and climbed out into the neck-high current gushing down their street. For eight long blocks, they alternated between swimming and walking to safety while neighbors screamed for help from their roofs. At one point, Ms. Bliek, 65, told her husband she was not sure she could continue.

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Persons: Wanda, Randy Bliek, Bliek Locations: Rock Valley , Iowa