OMAHA, Neb. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District, continues to perform surveillance operations on the levees south of Omaha in the constantly changing flood fight on the Missouri River.
There are confirmed breaches at L611-614 (South of Council Bluffs, Iowa), L-601 (South of Glenwood, Iowa), L-575 (Fremont County, Iowa), L-550 (Atchison County, Missouri), R-562 (Nemaha County, Nebraska), Western Sarpy (Ashland, Nebraska), Clear Creek (Ashland, Nebraska), Union Levee (Valley, Nebraska), and R-573 (Otoe County, Nebraska). The remaining levees south of the Platte River down to Rulo, Nebraska, remain overtopped.
“In the next few days we’ll see the levels of the Missouri River start to decline, however, the possibility of more breaches still exists. I cannot emphasize enough that residents should continue to monitor the situation and keep in close contact with their local and state emergency management organizations to stay updated on emergency conditions and any evacuation plans,” said Col. John Hudson, Omaha District Commander. “Levee breaches can happen quickly or gradually and often occur when water flows over the top of a levee and erodes a portion of the levee, a condition called “overtopping,” but also can occur at lower water elevations as well.”
In addition to levee surveillance, the district is providing technical assistance to levee sponsors, and communicating with the district’s stakeholders to ensure they are apprised of current conditions.
The Omaha District continues to provide assistance to state, local and tribal emergency management agencies. To date we have distributed approximately 154,000 sandbags, 2020 super sandbags, 9,930 feet of HESCO Barriers, one 16” water pump, 21 poly rolls, four 16” hoses and eight 10” heavy duty T-Bolt Clamps to mitigate flood conditions.
The first source of information for citizens is their local emergency managers. For questions or concerns you can call 211, which is a national resource hotline and website geared to local area needs.