"This really is the most devastating flooding we've probably ever had in our state's history, from the standpoint of how widespread it is," Gov. Pete Ricketts said Monday.
More than 8 million people are under flood warnings in the Midwest and the Mississippi River Valley, CNN meteorologist Dave Hennen said.
"Eastern Nebraska remains the hardest hit area, with much of the southeast part of the state under flood warnings," he said.
The flooding has already killed two people in Nebraska and one man in Iowa. Ricketts said at least one person remains missing in Nebraska.
Near Winslow, Nebraska, floodwater is eating away the side of one of the few roads leading into the town, CNN's Stephanie Elam reported.
Flood records have been shattered in 17 places, and more rivers will likely break cresting records this week, the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency said. (A crest is the highest point of a flood wave.)
Now the big concern is water draining downstream, further deluging communities that can't take any more flooding.
'I didn't think ... ice could do what it did'
The mammoth flooding follows a powerful "bomb cyclone" that slammed the central US last week with hurricane-like winds and blizzard conditions.
Melting ice and snow ended up in rivers and streams, causing flooding and damage days after the precipitation was over.
When a destructive mix of water and ice barreled toward Willard and Denise Ruzicka's farm, 15 neighbors scrambled to help.
Lorie Kreycik Knigge was one of the neighbors who raced to the Ruzicka's five-generation farm Saturday night. The team tried to move cattle, equipment and vehicles as fast as they could.
But less than three hours later, water and ice tore through the farm. The blacksmith shop and grain bins were demolished. Newborn calves and their mothers were killed And about 500 bales of stockpiled hay were washed away.
"It just ate away at everything," Knigge said. "I didn't think that the power of ice could do what it did."
Now Iowans are also grappling with dangerous flooding.
James Nennemann heard sirens blaring across the city of Hamburg around 4 a.m. Monday morning.
A barrier that the town had built and reinforced to hold back river water was breaking. Everyone needed to go.
Now, Nennemann's basement is flooded. If the water rises 2 feet more, it'll reach his home's first floor.
"Feels pretty numb," he told CNN as he stared at his flooded home. "It's not something that you immediately process, seeing things that (you) have never been seen before."
3 deaths include a farmer trying to rescue others
Nebraskan James Wilke, a farmer in Platte County, used his tractor to try to help a person trapped in a vehicle, NEMA spokesman Mike Wight said.
"With the guidance of emergency responders, James drove his tractor over the Shell Creek bridge on the Monestary Road and the bridge gave out. James and the tractor went down into the flood water below," family friend Jodi L. Hefti wrote on Facebook.
Another Nebraska man died after he was overcome by flood waters near a dam in Spencer, Wight said.
He said one more person in Nebraska is missing and presumed dead.
In Iowa, Aleido Rojas Galan of Nebraska was one of three people rescued from floodwater, Iowa's Fremont County Sheriff's Office said. But Galan, 55, succumbed to his injuries and died at a hospital in Lincoln.
An Air Force base is partially under water
Nebraska's Offutt Air Force Base, just south of Omaha, said about 30 buildings were flooded.
"Team Offutt has done an incredible job working together to battle this historic flood as best we can," said Col. Michael Manion, 55th Wing commander. On Sunday, he said the 55th Wing at the base was down "essential personnel manning only."
In Iowa, a mandatory evacuation order has been issued for some residents of Pacific Junction, CNN affiliate KETV reported. A county board passed a resolution Sunday saying anyone who violates evacuation or curfew orders will be fined $750.
Recovering from the damage
The Nebraska governor and Rep. Don Bacon toured shelters Sunday, talking to displaced residents and evacuees of the floods. Red Cross volunteers are working in more than a dozen shelters across eastern Nebraska and Iowa.
As the recovery process begins, NEMA urged residents to keep looking out for loved ones and neighbors.
Warning signs include: increased use of alcohol, tobacco or other drugs; feelings of anxiety, disbelief or numbness; physical reactions such as headaches; and the worsening of chronic health problems.
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