Posted on 03/15/2019 3:15:07 PM PDT by Big Red Clay
As floodwaters continued to devastate parts of the state on Friday, communities north and northwest of the Omaha metro area have braced for more damage.
Flooding has already been blamed for at least one death and two people are believed to be missing as of Friday afternoon. About a dozen injuries have been reported, including to first responders.
Homes are underwater and roads impassable. People displaced by the waters have taken shelter in hospitals, schools and other community buildings.
Residents across the region are being evacuated as levees break or rivers overflow their banks. Rita Argintean was one of many residents at a Valley assisted living center who was preparing to evacuate.
(Excerpt) Read more at omaha.com ...
Columbus farmer James Wilke, 50, headed out early on Thursday morning to help the driver after he was called to assist emergency responders....But his massive tractor caused a bridge over the Shell Creek to collapse, sending Wilke down the flooded creek, a family friend said in a Friday Facebook post.
‘James’ body was recovered later in the afternoon along the creek bed close to their home,’ said Jodi Hefti in the post. ‘Those who know James know it was his way of telling his wife, family and friends goodbye and that he is ‘home’.’
A Nebraska National Guard helicopter rescued the firefighters, and the people in the pickup. The stranded driver and his passenger were treated for hypothermia. The first responders were uninjured.
The pickup driver has a citation for driving on a closed road, and faces the possibility of criminal prosecution.
https://www.ketv.com/article/rescue-boat-lost-in-effort-to-save-driver-who-ignored-barricades/26848552
Notice *****
FEMA to arrive in Nebraska Monday.
“Buncha damned Trump voters...”
The Fremont area on the Platte River. Each small island covered in dozens of cattle..
I recall staying by the river at a Hampton in Council Bluffs.
It was on the river, I wonder how it is doing.
Even “More” flooding expected for devastated U.S. plains states.....
Water levels were expected to rise through the week, according to the National Weather Service, prompting evacuations in communities along the Missouri River on the Nebraska and Iowa border, as well as the Elkhorn and Platte rivers in Nebraska.
“We’re looking at widespread flooding that continues until at least early next week in the Plains and Midwest region,” said meteorologist Marc Chenard with the service’s Weather Prediction Center.
“The big ones are at record stages right now,” Chenard said. “There have been some levy breaks so there are towns that are flooded.”
Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts, who declared a statewide emergency last week, wrote on Twitter that he witnessed “unbelievable devastation” when he visited several flooded communities on Saturday.
https://news.yahoo.com/record-floods-engulf-u-central-states-rivers-rise-163003370.html
The Latest: More evacuations in deadly Midwestern flooding
ST. LOUIS (AP) — The Latest on flooding in the Midwest (all times local):
11:40 a.m.
Residents in parts of southwestern Iowa are being urged to leave their homes as a torrent of Missouri River water flows over and through levees.
Heavy rainfall and snowmelt forced river levels across four Midwestern states to dangerous levels. Two deaths were blamed on the high and forceful water, and two other men have been missing for days.
While river levels on Sunday were starting to level off in Nebraska, residents in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri were bracing for the worst still yet to come. Flooding has also been reported in Illinois, Minnesota, South Dakota and Wisconsin.
The Missouri River reached a record 30.2 feet (9.2 meters) Sunday in Fremont County, Iowa, in the state’s far southwestern corner. People in parts of Bartlett and Thurman were being evacuated as water broke through or overtopped levees.
County Emergency Management Director Mike Crecelius says it isn’t just the amount of water, it’s the swiftness of the current that creates a danger.
We should all be concerned, not just for their loss of homes/businesses etc....but a lot of the acreage is farmland and cattle land....not to mention the wildlife affected.
It’s truly terrible...
I agree.
Incredibly bad.
Your Iowa neighbors are praying for you .
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