Nebraska communities affected by floods, damage. Here's what you need to know Friday | Nebraska

The houses are under water and the roads impassable. Displaced persons fled to hospitals, schools and other community buildings.

Residents of the area are evacuated when dikes break or rivers overflow from their banks. Rita Argintean was one of many residents of a Valley Assisted Living Center who was preparing to evacuate.

Aged 84, he had survived two previous floods in Valley, but did not linger until the third. "I hate them," she says. "It's horrible."

Governor Ricketts has called the floods the worst of the last 50 years.

Eastern Nebraska is probably just days away from river levels, which will allow people to breathe better, said David Pearson, hydrologist of the National Weather Service.

Even though the Elkhorn River was cresting on Friday and was starting to fall, and even though the Platte seemed to be on the peak, the danger did not falter, he said.

"The situation remains dangerous and will remain so until we find a significant decline," he said. "It's not like a river that falls into a normal flood. It's like going from extreme to extreme normal.

However, there is still some optimism, namely a decrease in the amount of ice in the Platte. "It's much better," he said.

When the Platte rejects massive amounts of water in the Missouri River, it pushed this river to record levels.

"The dikes are clear, this is happening already," he said. "It's not a question of whether they go too high. The condition will only get worse.

To check the current flood conditions, click here. To see a raw video and photos of the massive flood around the state, click here.

The national meteorological service issued the warning on Friday morning and called on residents to immediately evacuate the area, indicating that sudden floods were imminent.

The Office of the National Meteorological Service in Valley, which provided essential information on the evolution of the flood situation, was itself carrying out an evacuation. The Weather Services Office in Hastings, Nebraska, took over.

Authorities suspect an ice jam somewhere would have blocked the river, said meteorologist Taylor Nicolaisen.

Friday morning rises bring the river level to 21.55 feet. The major flood stage is considered 21 feet. The level of the river should reach 24 feet later in the day.

The mayor of Omaha, Jean Stothert, said Friday that she had signed a declaration of local disaster because of the damage caused by the floods, the strong winds and the torrential rains since March 11, in the evening. 39, hope to obtain emergency funds "from all available sources".

The floods also brought the city of Omaha to shut down the Papillion Creek sewage treatment plant on Friday morning.

When the plant will be closed, the sewage will go into the river without being treated. On average, the plant processes 65 million gallons of wastewater a day.

People should avoid going to the Missouri River near and downstream of Papillion Creek.

The other wastewater treatment plan of the city remains open.

"It is probably damage caused by the most widespread floods in the last fifty years," he said at a press conference held Friday morning at the airport. Norfolk. "Even when we were away from the water system, we saw that the fields were very saturated."

Ricketts visited the Platte and Loup rivers by helicopter with the Nebraska National Guard and, after a brief stopover in Norfolk, planned to monitor the Elkhorn River.

The Nebraska Public Power District is about to shut down Cooper's nuclear plant as the Missouri River approaches a critical 45.5-foot mark. Friday afternoon, the river was nearly 45 feet deep near Brownville.

If the plant goes out, spokesman Mark Becker said he did not foresee any damage to the nuclear components of the facility.

The Missouri River pierced a dike between Offutt Air Base and Plattsmouth Air Force Base near Harlan Lewis Road and La Platte.

Sarpy County Sheriff's deputies noted that the Platte River was coming out of its north shore and was forcing water on Cottonwood Road in Villa Springs, southeast of Springfield.

Sarpy County Sheriff Jeff Davis urged residents of the Missouri and Platte Rivers to immediately evacuate their places to avoid being trapped. The release of a Gavins Point Dam and floods in central Nebraska are affecting water levels in Sarpy County.

Officials said people living in an area bordering these rivers might think that water may not reach them. However, water can and has been washed on the surrounding roads, preventing the entry and exit of living spaces.

US Highway 275 between Omaha and Fremont is closed, according to the Nebraska State Patrol. US Highway 77 to the north and south of the city is closed, as is American Highway 30 to the west and east of the city, said Lottie Mitchell, a spokeswoman for the US city.

The southwestern part of the city is still subject to a voluntary evacuation, Mitchell said, because the nearby dikes have not yet been drilled.

Also on Friday, Dodge County officials urged residents of North Bend, about 15 km west of Fremont, to evacuate.

Officials in Norfolk heaved a sigh of relief on Friday after the water level dropped several feet in one night, allowing nearly a third of the city to return home and their businesses.

The person who disappeared during the floods in Norfolk Thursday is still missing. Officials said the research was ongoing.

The floodwaters were retreating in Columbus on Friday afternoon. The Platte County Emergency Officer, Tim Hofbauer, said the water had dropped about a foot and a lot further upstream from the Wolf River.

Hofbauer said that several bridges on Shell Creek had failed and that there was no direct route to Columbus Friday afternoon.

A few rivers reached record levels overnight, while meteorologists from the National Meteorological Service warn that the water level will continue to rise for several days.

According to weather forecaster Dave Eastlack, no additional moisture is expected in the next few days that would increase totals, except for a low probability of snow Monday night.

"We're probably not going to see a kind of setback before half or the end of next week," he said.

Eastlack emphasized that motorists should not cross the water for their own safety and not to hinder the resources of first responders.

The Corps of US Army Engineers expects the Missouri River in Omaha to peak at 33.7 feet by Sunday, but Omaha City officials have said that the river should not compromise the 13 miles of lift that she controls.

The pedestrian walkway Bob Kerrey is closed due to the flooding of the Council Bluffs side.

In the Missouri Valley, in Iowa, two residents were taken to the local hospital in critical condition after being exposed to icy water during rescue operations.

Also on Thursday, a volunteer firefighter assigned to a rescue in the Waterloo region developed hypothermia after having a hole in his suit.

One person died and two people were reported missing, one near the Niobrara River and the other in Norfolk, according to Nebraska emergency officials.

At Shell Creek, near Columbus, a farmer drove a tractor to help a motorist stuck in floodwater, who was washed away and died, said Bryan Tuma, deputy director of the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency.

The farmer was later identified as Columbus farmer James Wilke. When he learned that the flood of water had blocked a motorist along a nearby country road early Thursday, he set fire to his tractor and went to the rescue despite the wind. and the rain.

Guided by volunteer first responders, Wilke started on Monastery Road and on the bridge that spans Shell Creek.

But the bridge collapsed under the tractor's weight, dragging the 50-year-old into the flooded stream. After a frantic search of the neighbors, his body was found downstream about nine hours later, near his own farm.

Two boats with five firefighters and two drivers capsized Thursday night while they were trying to rescue people in Dodge County near the Elkhorn River.

Many helicopters have been called to attend the scene in southwest Arlington, the Dodge County Sheriff's Office said.

The floods have had serious consequences on movements in areas surrounding the metropolitan region of Omaha and in northeastern Nebraska.

The Highway 34 bridge on the Missouri River, north of Plattsmouth, was closed late Friday morning due to a suspended break. The road was closed from Highway 75 to the east, near the Sarpy and Cass county borders.

Most highways in north-central and northeastern Nebraska are also closed due to floods.

Click here to view the live map of the Nebraska Department of Transportation.

In Iowa, Interstate 29 is closed and detours are in place due to flooding. The I-680 between the Mormon Bridge and I-29 is also closed.

The Nebraska National Police Highway Helpline is open 24 hours a day for motorists in need of assistance. Drivers can reach NSP by dialing * 55 from any mobile phone or by calling 911 in an emergency.

The shelters are open throughout Nebraska and, in all, they serve about 700 people. To learn more about organizations working to help flood victims and first responders, click here.

World-Herald editors Alia Conley, Kelsey Stewart, Chris Peters, Erin Grace, Blake Ursch and Roseann Moring contributed to this report, which includes information from the World-Herald News Service.