Carol Bemis, 57, of Dubuque, was delivering the Telegraph Herald on Thursday morning when she fell into the opening after the snow gave way while she was stepping over a snowdrift between the sidewalk and street.
Bemis' head was the only part of her body visible from the street. A passer-by found her and called for help, police said.
"This is the first time I can remember," someone falling into a storm sewer, Lt. Bob Prine said.
Newspaper spokeswoman Libby Burkhart also said it was a first for the Telegraph Herald.
"We've had carriers bit by dogs and other accidents, or people slipping on the ice and breaking a hip," she said.
City Engineer Bob Schiesl said the curbside drain is an older style, and about one of 2,300 in the city. It has a vertical opening in the face of the curb, about 6-8 inches tall by 4-feet wide
Bemis was pulled out and taken to the hospital, where she was treated for hypothermia and released.
