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Wapello, Iowa

11 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1946 and the latest in 1984. It stands in Wapello Township. It lies in ZIP code area 52653. The Survey maps it on the Wapello quadrangle. 2,084 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 568 feet above sea level.

Research this city

Wapello within Louisa County

On record in Wapello

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register 3 records

Population over time

2 figures

Wapello grew from 2,067 to 2,084 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

YearPeople Change
20102,067
20202,084+17 (+1%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 11 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

Fires near this place

36 since 2006

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 36 fires within 5 miles of Wapello between 2006 and 2017, burning about 534 acres in total. None started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Debris and open burning19
Missing data/not specified/undetermined16
Recreation and ceremony1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
22 May 2008Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
21 May 2007Recreation and ceremonyunder an acrePort Louisa National Wildlife RefugeCAMPFIRE 1
20 May 2009Missing data/not specified/undetermined3.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
20 May 2008Missing data/not specified/undetermined7.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
1 May 2008Missing data/not specified/undetermined18 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
9 April 2014Debris and open burning4.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
6 April 2013Debris and open burningunder an acreIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
4 April 2013Debris and open burning32 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Louisa County

Mines and quarries near this place

1 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Wapello: 1 past producer. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Limestone, Dimension, Flagstone. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Dalzell QuarryLimestone, Dimension, FlagstonePast Producer

Every working recorded in Louisa County

Storms near this place

55 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Wapello in 55 storm reports between 1994 and 2026: 21 hail, 18 thunderstorm wind, 8 flash flood, 4 funnel cloud. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
April 2003HailWapello$1,000,000no account filed
April 2003HailWapello$1,000,000no account filed
May 1996Thunderstorm WindWapello$800,000no account filed
April 2003Flash FloodWapello$500,000US 61 covered with water
June 2009Flash FloodWapello$100,000Heavy rains have resulted in flash flooding in and near Wapello, IA during the early morning hours of June 22. Highway 99 in Wapello was covered by flood waters around 1254 am June 22. Other county roads in the vicinity of Wapello, IA were also covered by flood waters.
June 2008Flash FloodWapello$100,000Flood waters from the Iowa River caused a levee to fail near the intersection of I Avenue and County Road G62 just east northeast of Wapello, IA around 12:46 pm June 13. This levee failure resulted in flash flooding of approximately 500 acres which included four homes located behind the levee.
May 1996Thunderstorm WindWapello$100,000no account filed
June 2011Thunderstorm WindWapello$50,000Wind gusts estimated to be 65 mph blew a tree onto a house at 336 Jefferson Street in Wapello, IA around 330 am CDT June 20.
April 2003Thunderstorm WindWapello$50,000Power lines down
June 2000Thunderstorm WindWapello$15,000no account filed
March 2006HailWapello$5,000no account filed
May 1994Thunderstorm WindWapello$5,000no account filed
April 1994Thunderstorm WindWapello$5,000no account filed
May 2001Thunderstorm WindWapello$1,000Large tree blown down across a county road.
March 2023Thunderstorm WindWapello-A power company repair main confirmed that thunderstorm snapped off two power poles. No other damage was found. Time of the event was estimated using radar.
November 2019Thunderstorm WindWapello-Law Enforcement reported a large tree down near the intersection of 77th Street and Highway 99. The time of the event was estimated using radar.
October 2018FloodWapello-The Iowa River at Wapello rose above the major flood stage of 25.0 feet around midnight on October 8th and fell back below major flood stage around 4 PM on the 14th. The river crested at 26.8 feet around 8 PM on the 11th.
May 2017HailWapello-The hail size was estimated from a picture on social media.
May 2017HailWapello-A public report was received with a picture of hail using social media.
July 2017Thunderstorm WindWapello-The county emergency manager reported several large trees were split in half.
July 2017Thunderstorm WindWapello-A public report was received of large partially rotten tree branches down accompanied by pictures received by social media.
August 2015Funnel CloudWapello-Local media forwarded a viewer report and photo of a funnel cloud near Wapello. The funnel did not show any sign of approaching the ground.
July 2014FloodWapello-Heavy rains across the Upper Midwest and eastern Iowa during the last 2 weeks of June caused the Iowa River to rise to its major flood stage of 25 feet around 6PM on July 1 and fall below major flood stage around 115AM on July 9. The river crested at 30.2 feet from 5AM to 6PM on July 3.
April 2014HailWapello-Local media relayed a public report of golf ball to baseball sized hail covering the ground.
April 2014HailWapello-Mercer County Law Enforcement relayed a public report of golf ball size hail in Wapello.
June 2014Flash FloodWapello-Law enforcement reported several streets closed due to water over the roads.
May 2014HailWapello-Quarter sized hail fell 2 miles north of Wapello, IA around 555 pm CDT May 12.
May 2013Flash FloodWapello-Law enforcement reported several roads closed due to flash flooding over the southern portions of Louisa county.
June 2013FloodWapello-The Iowa River at Wapello rose above the major flood stage of 25 feet in the early afternoon of the first. The river remained above major flood stage until the the late evening of the 7th.
November 2010HailWapello-A trained spotter estimated hail to nickel size along with wind gusts in excess of 50 mph in Wapello.
June 2010Flash FloodWapello-Heavy rains resulted in flash flooding in Louisa County and several road closures.
June 2007Flash FloodWapello-Water covered U.S. Highway 61.
June 2007Flash FloodWapello-After 4-6 inches of rainfall, Long Creek overflowed and flooded farmland. Time is estimated.
March 2006Heavy RainWapello-moderate street flooding
April 2003Funnel CloudWapello-Possible funnel
July 2001HailWapello-Penny sized hail. Reported by law enforcement.
September 2001HailWapello-Nickel sized hail reported by trained spotter.
June 1999Thunderstorm WindWapello-Numerous tree limbs downed.
June 1997Thunderstorm WindWapello-Numerous large trees downed.
April 2026Thunderstorm WindWapello-no account filed
March 2016HailWapello-no account filed
March 2016HailWapello-no account filed
June 2013Thunderstorm WindWapello-no account filed
March 2006HailWapello-no account filed
May 2004HailWapello-no account filed
April 2003HailWapello-no account filed
April 2003HailWapello-no account filed
April 2003HailWapello-no account filed
April 2003HailWapello-no account filed
April 2003Funnel CloudWapello-no account filed
May 2000HailWapello-no account filed
August 2000HailWapello-no account filed
June 1999Funnel CloudWapello-no account filed
June 1998Thunderstorm WindWapello-no account filed
May 1996Thunderstorm WindWapello-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Louisa County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Port Louisa4.9 miles11
Newport6.4 miles11
Grandview6.5 miles9
Elrick Junction6.7 miles11
Bard (historical)6.8 miles7
Morning Sun7.0 miles7
Toolesboro7.1 miles13
Cairo7.5 miles7

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on WapelloAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1899149The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 462662. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.