OMAHA, Neb. -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District Emergency Operations Center has received several inquiries from private levee owners. If these levees are not in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) PL84-99 program they are not eligible for USACE rehabilitation assistance. The owners of these levees should work with their County Emergency Management personnel and/or the State Emergency Management to determine if there is assistance available to them.
There are more than 500 miles of levees on the Missouri, Platte, and Elkhorn rivers and tributaries that have experienced significant flood damage. Previous press releases have stated 350 miles, but as waters continue to recede our team is continually updating the impacts from unregulated runoffs. There are 54 confirmed full/partial breaches in the Omaha District. Due to the magnitude of damage along these levees, repair of the levee system efforts will take an extended period of time to execute.
Residents should continue to monitor the situation and keep in close contact with their local and state emergency management organizations to stay updated on any evacuation plans and emergency conditions. Levee breaches can happen quickly or gradually and can occur when water overtops a levee and washes out a portion of the levee, and can occur at lower water elevations as well.
Omaha District’s focus remains on ensuring the safety of citizens and communicating the conditions on the river systems to all of our partners and stakeholders. The Corps continues to provide flood fight assistance to state, local and tribal government agencies.
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.
For more information about the PL84-99 program, visit: https://www.usace.army.mil/Media/Fact-Sheets/Fact-Sheet-Article-View/Article/475476/emergency-response/
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Release no. UNRELEASED