Flooding has reached record levels at 17 locations in Nebraska. Hundreds of homes have been damaged and hundreds are staying in shelters. Nearly 300 people have been rescued from high water across the state. In one county alone, Sarpy County, up to 500 homes have been damaged.
In response to requests, the United Way of Ellis County is providing information for the Nebraska and Iowa Flood Relieve Fund. The United Way of the Midlands (Omaha, Nebraska) has created the Nebraska and Iowa Flood Relief Fund.
One hundred percent of every donation will be directed to nonprofit programs meeting people’s needs for emergency shelter, food and more in Nebraska. Donors can also direct their gift to another community affected by flooding in Nebraska or Iowa by providing the city name. United Way of the Midlands will then distribute those funds to the local United Way chapter serving that area. United Way of the Midlands is also assisting those affected by flooding through its 2-1-1 Helpline which serves Nebraska and southwest Iowa.
At that link you will find a way to text donations or send donations to Nebraska Flood Relief.
Two South Dakota residents are in the Lincoln County jail after a gas theft in Logan County led to a pursuit that ended in Lincoln County.
On March 17, 2019, at 6:18 p.m., Deputies were advised of a Gas Theft from Kimber’s Gas Station in Stapleton, NE. It was reported an older white van had received fuel and did not pay for it. The vehicle reportedly left southbound from Stapleton on U.S. Highway 83.
A Deputy responded to the area and observed the vehicle south of the Logan / Lincoln County Line. The Deputy attempted to stop the vehicle but it refused and began driving at high speed away from the Deputy. The Deputy pursued the vehicle on the Highway and various county roads. The Deputy at one point had the vehicle stopped in a driveway and the occupants at gunpoint. The vehicle then drove at the Deputy and the pursuit was continued.
The vehicle eventually began the driving northbound on Cattlegrowers Road and went off-road, just south of the Lincoln / Logan County Line. The vehicle became stuck and a male and female occupant ran into a tree grove.
Local ranchers, the Logan County Sheriff and his Deputy responded to assist. The Ranchers provided UTV vehicles so the Deputies could continue to pursue the subjects.
Eventually, the two suspects were caught by Lincoln and Logan County Deputies in a field south of the tree line.
The driver of the vehicle was identified as thirty-two-year-old Derrick Schween of Rapid City, South Dakota. The female passenger was eventually identified as twenty-six-year-old Brittany Santos Delgado of Rapid City, South Dakota. Mr. Schween was charged with Flight to Avoid Arrest, Willful Reckless Driving, Resisting Arrest and multiple other traffic offenses.
Santos Delgado was charged with Obstructing a Police Officer, False Reporting and Resisting Arrest. She also has Felony Warrants from South Dakota for Possession of Methamphetamine.
The investigation is ongoing and it appears Narcotics was a contributing factor.
WESTERN, Neb. (AP) – Authorities say two people were fatally injured when two pickup trucks collided on a state highway in southeast Nebraska.
The collision occurred a little after 4 p.m. Sunday on Nebraska Highway 15, about 5 miles (8 kilometers) north of Western. The Saline County Sheriff’s Office says a northbound pickup was pulling a trailer when it collided with the southbound pickup.
One person in each truck died – one at the scene and one later after a hospital. Two other people in the southbound pickup and one in the northbound pickup were injured.
The names of those involved haven’t been released. The collision is being investigated.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — The Latest on flooding in the Midwest (all times local):
4 p.m.
Flooding in Nebraska has badly damaged up to 500 houses in one county alone.
Greg London of the Sarpy County Sheriff’s Office said Sunday that one levee broke Thursday along the Platte River, and another broke Saturday. He estimates that up to 400 houses and cabins in the area known as Hanson’s Lake are damaged, including many that are completely submerged. Another 100 or so homes are damaged elsewhere in the county.
The area is near where the Platte and Missouri rivers converge. A Missouri River levee nearby also breached on Thursday.
London says many of the damaged homes are likely ruined. He says that while the area has had flooding before, this year’s disaster is “unprecedented.”
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This update has been corrected to show the name of the county in Nebraska is Sarpy, not Sharpy.
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3:15 p.m.
Flooding has reached record levels at 17 locations across Nebraska.
The state’s emergency management agency says more record crests are expected in various rivers by Tuesday.
Nebraska has had much of the worst of the late-winter flooding that’s been seen across the Midwest. Hundreds of homes are damaged and the state says 660 people are staying in shelters.
The Nebraska Emergency Management Agency says the Missouri River is expected to crest Sunday at 41 feet (12.5 meters) in Plattsmouth — 4 feet (1.22 meters) above the record set in 2011. Serious flooding there is expected to continue through next weekend.
Crest records also were set along the Platte and Elkhorn rivers. The Elkhorn reached 24.6 feet (7.5 meters) Saturday in Waterloo, breaking the 1962 record by 5 1/2 feet (1.68 meters).
Nearly 300 people have been rescued from high water across the state. At least one person has died in floodwaters in the state. A second death from flooding was reported in Iowa.
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3 p.m.
Officials say residents of Green Bay, Wisconsin, who evacuated their homes due to flooding can return.
Heavy rainfall and melting snow have led to dangerously high water in creeks and rivers across several Midwestern states. Even as the water receded in Green Bay, other parts of the Midwest are still under water or are bracing for flooding. In far southwestern Iowa, residents were being evacuated Sunday as floodwaters overtopped levees. And in St. Joseph, Missouri, volunteers are filling sandbags to help secure a levee protecting an industrial area.
Green Bay Metro Fire Department lifted its emergency evacuation order at 10 a.m. Sunday for an eight- to 10-block area around the East River. The Green Bay Press Gazette reports city inspectors were out placing placards on front doors identifying those not currently inhabitable because they have no heat and those that are safe to re-enter.
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1:55 p.m.
Flooding along the Missouri River is causing long delays for Amtrak passengers.
The passenger rail service said Sunday that its Missouri River Runner service between St. Louis and Kansas City, Missouri, will have delays up to five hours because of flooding and rail congestion.
Amtrak says all Missouri River Runner trains will be canceled Monday. The service typically travels twice daily between Missouri’s two metropolitan areas.
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12:40 p.m.
The flooding Missouri River has damaged dozens of buildings at an Air Force base in Nebraska.
The Omaha World-Herald reports that about one-third of the Offutt Air Force Base is under water. A spokeswoman for the base says 60 buildings, mostly on the south end of the base, have been damaged, including about 30 completely inundated with as much as 8 feet (2.4 meters) of water.
Among the buildings badly damaged are the headquarters building and a hangar.
Offutt’s lone runway is expected to remain closed until Tuesday afternoon.
Airmen had been filling thousands of sandbags, but the newspaper reports that the sandbagging effort has been halted.
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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.
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11:20 a.m.
Flooding caused by heavy rain and snowmelt is blamed for two deaths in the Midwest, and two others are missing.
Hundreds of people were evacuated from their homes in Nebraska and Iowa as levees succumbed to the rush of water. Flooding has also been reported in Illinois, Minnesota, South Dakota and Wisconsin.
Authorities say 52-year-old Aleido Rojas Galan of Norfolk, Nebraska, died Friday night in southwestern Iowa. Officials say Galan and two others were in a vehicle that drove around a barricade and was swept away. The other two men survived.
On Thursday, 50-year-old James Wilke of Columbus, Nebraska, died when a bridge collapsed as he used a tractor to try and reach stranded motorists.
A Norfolk man was seen on top of his flooded car late Thursday before being swept away. Water also swept away a man after a dam collapse. Both men are still missing.
ST. LOUIS (AP) – Flooding caused by heavy rain and snowmelt is blamed for three deaths in the Midwest, and two others are missing.
Hundreds of people were evacuated from their homes in Nebraska and Iowa as levees succumbed to the rush of water. Flooding has also been reported in Illinois, Minnesota, South Dakota and Wisconsin.
Authorities say 52-year-old Aleido Rojas Galan of Norfolk, Nebraska, died Friday night in southwestern Iowa. Officials say Galan and two others were in a vehicle that drove around a barricade and was swept away. The other two men survived.
On Thursday, 50-year-old James Wilke of Columbus, Nebraska, died when a bridge collapsed as he used a tractor to try and reach stranded motorists.
A Norfolk man was seen on top of his flooded car late Thursday before being swept away. Water also swept away a man after a dam collapse. Both men are still missing.
A man has been arrested after authorities say he shot another man several times.
On March 16, 2019, at 10:05 p.m., the North Platte 911 Center received a call from a male subject who said he had been shot multiple times on North Front Road. The victim advised he was in his vehicle on Front Road.
Deputies arrived and provided emergency care for the male subject. North Platte Fire and Rescue transported the subject to Great Plains Health. It appeared the subject had been shot two times in the lower leg. The victim advised he was shot by twenty-two-year-old Jared Falkena who lived in a house just east of his vehicle.
Deputies attempted to make contact with Falkena, but he refused.
The Nebraska State Patrol SWAT Team was called out to assist Deputies, and at 3:00 a.m. on March 17, 2019, Falkena came out of the house and was placed in custody.
Falkena was transported to the Lincoln County Detention Center and charged with Second Degree Assault and Use of a Weapon to Commit a Felony. The investigation is ongoing and further charges are possible.
Alcohol appears to be a contributing factor in the incident.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – A Nebraska bill that would increase funding aimed at attracting more startup companies to state is getting support from successful entrepreneurs.
The Omaha World-Herald reports that Evan Luxon, co-founder of Centese, was among those who testified Wednesday in support of a bill that would increase funding in the Nebraska Business Innovation Act. The $4 million in additional funding would bring total funding to nearly $10 million annually.
Luxon says his small but growing medical equipment company, now based in his hometown of Omaha, would still be in San Francisco if not for the program that began eight years ago to help entrepreneurs.
Supporters of Legislative Bill 334 say the extra state funding would encourage more startups in Nebraska.
CORDOVA, Neb. (AP) — Four people are dead after fire at a home in southeastern Nebraska.
The fire broke out after 7 a.m. Saturday in Cordova. The home was engulfed in flames by the time firefighters arrived.
The Nebraska State Fire Marshal Agency says two people were able to get out without injuries, but four others died. The names and ages of the victims have not been released.
The cause of the fire is under investigation. Authorities say foul play is not suspected. Autopsies are planned for all four victims.
Cordova is a village of fewer than 150 people that’s about 30 miles (48 kilometers) west of the state capital of Lincoln.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – With their session nearly halfway over, Nebraska lawmakers are still trying to unite behind a plan to lower property taxes amid uncertainty over how to cover the cost.
Members of the tax-focused Revenue Committee are sorting through their options but signaled they’re open to a sales tax increase, although that move would undoubtedly face resistance from Nebraska businesses. They’re also looking at an income tax cut and getting rid of sales tax exemptions.
Lawmakers face the prospect of a new statewide ballot measure to reduce property taxes in the 2020 general election.
Sen. Lou Ann Linehan, chairwoman of the Revenue Committee, says she’s concerned that if lawmakers don’t act this session, the petition drive could gain momentum and be approved by voters, forcing state officials to make drastic cuts.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Authorities were using boats and large vehicles on Saturday to rescue and evacuate residents in parts of the Midwest where a recent deluge of rainwater and snowmelt was sent pouring over frozen ground, overwhelming creeks and rivers, and killing at least one person.
The scramble to move people out of harm’s way was expected to subside going into the new week, as rivers and creeks in flooded eastern Nebraska and western Iowa were expected to crest Saturday and Sunday. That left officials downstream looking to prepare for likely flooding.
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson had already met with emergency management team members Friday to review and update flood-response plans, and the Missouri Highway Patrol was preparing additional equipment and putting swift water rescue personnel on standby. The Missouri National Guard also temporarily relocated the 139th Airlift Wing’s C-130s from Rosecrans Air National Guard Base in St. Joseph as a precaution.
The National Weather Service said the Missouri River at St. Joseph reached nearly 26 feet on Saturday, about a foot below what’s considered major flooding at the northwest Missouri city. But it’s expected to crest Wednesday or Thursday at 29.3 feet — more than two feet above major flooding level.
Evacuation efforts in eastern Nebraska and some spots in western Iowa on Saturday were hampered by reports of levee breaches and washouts of bridges and roads, including part of Nebraska Highway 92, leading in and out of southwest Omaha. Authorities confirmed that a bridge on that highway that crosses the Elkhorn River had been washed out Saturday. In Fremont, west of Omaha, the Dodge County Sheriff’s Office issued a mandatory evacuation for some residents after floodwaters broke through a levee along the Platte River. And in Mills County, Iowa, authorities ordered people in some rural areas to evacuate after the Missouri River overtopped levees.
The flooding followed days of snow and rain — record-setting, in some places — that swept through the West and Midwest. The deluge pushed some waterways, including the Missouri River, to record levels in Nebraska, South Dakota, Iowa and Minnesota. The flooding was the worst in nearly a decade in places.
The family of farmer James Wilke, 50, of Columbus, Nebraska, said he was killed Thursday when a bridge collapsed as he was using his tractor to try to reach stranded motorists on Thursday. His body was found downstream, his cousin Paul Wilke told the Columbus Telegram. Gass Haney Funeral Home confirmed James Wilke’s death.
At least two other people were missing in floodwaters in Nebraska. Officials said a Norfolk man was seen on top of his flooded car late Thursday before being swept away in the water and another man was swept away by waters when a dam collapsed on the Niobrara River.
Officials in Sarpy County, south of Omaha, said Saturday that power may be shut off to communities along the Missouri, Platte and Elkhorn rivers for safety reasons. They warned those who choose to ignore calls to evacuate that rescues would be attempted only during daylight hours. Some cities and towns, such as North Bend on the banks of the Platte River, were submerged. Others, such as Waterloo and Fremont, were surrounded by floodwaters, stranding residents in virtual islands with no access in or out.
“There is no way out of here unless you’ve got a helicopter — or a boat,” the Rev. Mike Bitter, pastor of Christian Church of Waterloo, told the Omaha World-Herald.
Officials in western Iowa and eastern Nebraska were urging people not to drive unless necessary. In Iowa, a section of northbound Interstate 29 that runs parallel to the Missouri River was closed due to flooding. Authorities were rerouting motorists at Kansas City, Missouri, using a detour that took people almost 140 miles (225 kilometers) out of the way.
Farther east, the Mississippi River saw moderate flooding in Illinois from Rock Island south to Gladstone. Meteorologist Brian Pierce with the National Weather Service’s Quad Cities office in Davenport, Iowa, said flooding on the Mississippi could get worse a few weeks as more snow melts in Minnesota and Wisconsin.
“What we’re having now is the dress rehearsal for the main event that’s going to happen in early April,” he said of the flooding on the Mississippi.
Rising waters along the Pecatonica and Rock rivers flooded some homes in the northern Illinois cities of Freeport, Rockford and Machesney Park. The National Weather Service said record crests were possible along the rivers, with water levels forecast to continue to rise over the next several days and remain above flood stage through most of the weekend.
Freeport resident Mary Martin told the (Freeport) Journal-Standard that she went to the store to get milk and bread when she saw floodwaters were rising Friday.
“Within an hour of going to the store, I could not get back in. That’s how fast the water was coming up,” Martin said.
Here are some photos provided by Gov. Ricketts’ office:
