Flooding in the Midwest: Latest Photos of the Disaster

Flooding and heavier water flows have forced the closure of bridge crossings of the Missouri River from just south of Omaha for more than 100 miles south. More bridges and railroad lines may have to close as flooding continues.

North of Omaha, the Fort Calhoun nuclear power station remains shut due to Missouri River flooding, but protected by temporary flood barriers and dry, said Mike Jones a spokesman for the Omaha Public Power District.

Two coal-burning power plants along the river are operating and also protected by flood barriers, Jones said.

Volunteers have filled about 200,000 sandbags in Omaha to protect public property from flooding. The bagging operations are scheduled to continue on Thursday, Friday and Saturday with shifts from 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Further north, thousands of Minot residents face a Wednesday deadline to evacuate their homes for a second time this spring as the rising Souris River moves closer to swamping the North Dakota city with what's predicted to be its worst flood in four decades.

Officials have ordered about 11,000 people, or a quarter of the city's residents, to evacuate by 6 p.m. But they cautioned even that deadline may be too generous, and said they are prepared to sound warning sirens if water spills over Minot's protective levees any earlier. Public safety is paramount, Mayor Curt Zimbelman said Tuesday. The water is rising fast, and people need to get evacuated as soon as possible.

Here's a look at photos from yesterday, June 21 of the floodwaters around Omaha: