Nebraska’s largest cities were drying out Thursday following a night of historic rainfall.
Flash flooding left several people stranded as cars were swept away in Omaha and Lincoln. More than 50 people were rescued by boat in an Omaha neighborhood and several roads were impassable early Thursday. So far, no deaths or serious injuries have been reported.
Assistant Public Works Director Jim Theiler has worked with the City of Omaha for more than 25 years. He said the flash flooding was about the worst he’s seen.
“Everything we know about last night is that pretty much citywide it exceeded a 100-year event,” Theiler said at a press conference held in the mayor’s office Thursday morning.
Lincoln set its all-time record for rainfall in a single day on Wednesday, officially recording 6.15 inches at the Lincoln Airport. That shattered the previous record of 5.45 inches, set in 1910. But the National Weather Service also had a report of more than 10 inches in northern Lancaster County.
In Omaha, the sound of classic rock and industrial fans could be heard inside O’Leaver’s Pub near South 50th Street and Saddle Creek Road Thursday morning. Chris Lewis attempted to dry things out while assessing the damage. Despite a few feet of water in the basement, he said the building didn’t fare too badly.
“It’ll take us a little longer for this to clean up,” Lewis said. “The bar we’re hoping to be open Saturday, if not tomorrow. It just depends on how many employees we can get in to help clean up.”
Next door, Omar Garrido, owner of the Churro Spot, was having a similar morning. He spotted three cars in front of the restaurant when he arrived around 6:30 a.m., each stalled out and abandoned in the flood.
“They don’t realize how deep it is, and they’re trying to cross over to 50th Saddle Creek, and they end up getting stuck,” Garrido said. “It happens every time.”
Omaha Mayor John Ewing said he was told by the National Weather Service that the rainfall in the Omaha metro caused the Missouri River to jump 3 feet.
“After experiencing one of the wettest Septembers in history, we got so much rain that OFD performed rescues,” Ewing said. “Our sewer maintenance office at 69th and Q had phones and internet down. Our Omaha police impound lot was flooded, and people woke up to wet basements and worse.”
There were reports of more than 8 inches of rain in Douglas and Saunders counties and more than 7 inches in Sarpy and Washington counties.
Flooding caused numerous street and road closures, including U.S. 77 near Ceresco.
The Omaha Fire Department (OFD) said it responded to 80 water rescue calls in a three-hour period between 11 p.m. Wednesday and 2 a.m. Thursday.
Some of the most heavily impacted areas included 62nd and J streets, 70th and Q streets, 137th and L streets, and 78th and I Streets, said Bryan Crotzer, assistant fire chief in Omaha.
At 62nd at J Streets alone, approximately 50 people and multiple pets were rescued or assisted from floodwaters reaching depths of 6 to 8 feet, OFD said. Six people from the area were assisted with shelter by the American Red Cross, while others were able to stay with family or friends.
John Winkler, general manager of the Papio Missouri River Natural Resources District, said in a Facebook post Thursday that the 36th Street bridge in Bellevue was closed, “with water rapidly flowing over the bridge and police and rescue on the scene.”
Nebraska 370 was closed in both directions Thursday morning from 36th Street to U.S. 75 because of water over the road.
Flooding in the Omaha area affected busing for Omaha Public Schools students.
In a statement, Trevis Sallis, executive director of student transportation for OPS said access to some bus lots was limited and bus drivers would be dealing with numerous road closures.
“Many routes will be delayed, some may not be available at all,” Sallis said in the emailed statement.
Some other Nebraska school districts had late starts due to the flooding, including Deshler and Blue Hill.
More than a dozen counties were under a flood warning that’s scheduled to be in effect until Thursday afternoon.
Numerous creeks were already above flood stage as of Thursday morning and were forecast to continue rising. Salt Creek reached a record level near Greenwood Thursday morning, while Little Salt Creek in Lincoln hit a record of more than 25.6 feet, about 4 feet higher than its previous record crest, according to the National Weather Service.