“Our number one priority is to save lives and our goal is to promote public safety, first and foremost,” says Omaha District Commander Col. Robert Ruch. “We ask the public to be aware of rising floodwaters and to please practice safety throughout this period of high water.”
Other news from around the State is interesting.
AP Photo/Sioux City Journal, Tim Hynds
Flooding rated as 10 by state emergency officials
http://journalstar.com/news/local/article_47392598-56b8-5563-80fc-781239e1471b.html
"In the latest in a series of history-making decisions, the Corps announced it would open spillway gates Friday morning on the Big Bend Dam near Fort Thompson, S.D., to pass floodwater from Lake Sharpe to Lake Francis Case for the first time since the dam went into service in 1963.
And a levee related quote from Mike Jess, former director of the Nebraska Department of Water Resources, "There are levees that will presumably protect property. But what we discover is that, with the river at high elevations for long periods, the groundwater rises behind the levees."
THE WORLD-HERALD Photo, DANIELLE BEEBE
Missouri River Flooding: Corps gets a torrent of questions
http://omaha.com/article/20110603/NEWS01/706039901#missouri-river-flooding-corps-gets-a-torrent-of-questions
"In a scene being repeated up and down the Missouri River this week, the people of Monona County gathered Thursday at the West Monona Community School to get their questions answered.
"(Monona County) Sheriff Jeff Pratt and Randy Behm of the corps' Omaha District office tried to provide the answers. The audience of nearly 1,000 people was unfailingly polite, applauding Behm as he was introduced."
Journal photo by Jim Lee
Local officials grapple with rumor control
http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/
"When rumors start up, they run like a grass fire," Sioux City Fire Chief Tom Everett said during a briefing for the media at The Security Institute on the campus of Western Iowa Tech Community College.
Consequently, Sioux City and Woodbury County residents may call a new flood response hotline at 224-5262. City and county employees will answer six lines daily from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Hotlines have also been established for Nebraska and South Dakota residents."
Photo by George Lauby
Flood water rising
http://www.northplattebulletin.com/index.asp?show=news&action=readStory&storyID=20865&pageID=3§ionID=3
"For a week, they’ve watched the water rise. It will get worse.
“We got some more bad news today,” (John) Simants told the Bulletin. “The Army Corps of Engineers is taking over. On Friday, they will go to Wyoming and assess all the reservoirs, decide which gates will be opened and how far. They said it could be a lot of water.”
Estimates of how high the river will get have already steadily increased. A week ago, the crest was expected to be 7.2 feet. On Tuesday the river reached 7.4 feet and the crest estimate increased to 8 feet.
A crest of 6.5 feet is considered a major flood.
The crest could come at 9 or 10 feet, Simants has been told. No one knows for sure."
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