Despite reports of a tornado southwest of Iowa City in Tuesday night’s storms, the National Weather Service said Wednesday it could not confirm a twister touched down there and said teams instead found damage consistent with straight-line winds gusting 80 mph or more.

Beyond strong winds, the storms brought flash flooding in Iowa City and farther south, where the weather service said rains up to 3.5 inches from the storm were reported.

A survey team went Wednesday to the area around U.S. 1 and Phebe Lane, west of Highway 218, and found tree damage but no path of a tornado. A survey team also could not confirm reports of a tornado near the West Branch area.

Tuesday’s severe storms were worst south of Interstate 80, the agency said. It took reports from trained spotters of 81 mph gusts in Riverside and Frytown.

A trained weather spotter reported just before 6:30 p.m. Tuesday there were 8 to 10 inches of rain covering streets near Rocky Shore Drive and Park Road in Iowa City, near the Iowa River. Another Iowa City resident posted a photo of flooded city streets on the weather service’s Facebook page.

The weather service canceled a flood watch for the Cedar River at Blairs Ferry Road in Palo. But it continued to warn of minor flooding by the Cedar River in Cedar Rapids.

It said the river was measured at 9.8 feet Wednesday morning in Cedar Rapids. In its latest forecast, the agency said the river was projected to reach the 12-foot flood stage by Monday morning.