Seward and Seward County officials spent a few days watching water levels in area creeks and the Blue River and waiting for water to clear flooded areas to see what damage was left by the Sept. 30 rains sent here by the remnants of Hurricane Polo.
Seward City Administrator Greg Butcher said the Big Blue and Lincoln Creek through Seward crested once during the storm, then rose and were expected to crest again the afternoon of Oct. 2, barring additional rain here or unexpected flows from the north.
Seward County Road Superintendent Jon Regnier said as many as 20 segments of county roads had to be closed and watched during and after the rains.
“We are slowly getting other roads open because the water is receding,” Regnier said Oct. 2.
A section of Van Dorn Road east of Highway 6 near 224th will remain closed while the county deals with a culvert that washed out of place, as well as a minimum maintenance section of Rokeby Road between 205th and 224th Roads where the culvert was washed into the river.
“We have several locations that have wash-outs right off the edge of the road,” Regnier said.
There are also a few culverts that had wash-outs around them and a railroad bridge east of Milford where the rain caused some erosion.
National Weather Service volunteers recorded rainfall between 2.77 inches in Pleasant Dale to 6.5 inches in Milford as of 2 a.m. Oct. 1 after a day of seemingly constant rains.
Other measures were: southeast of Beaver Crossing, 5.06 inches, southwest of Milford, 4.95 inches, south-southeast of Goehner and east-southeast of Seward 4.87 inches, east of Beaver Crossing, 4.42 inches, southwest of Beaver Crossing, 4.09 inches, south-southeast of Milford 3.76 inches, southwest of Seward, 3.70 inches, and west of Tamora 3.57 inches.
Lancaster County reports included 3.04 inches south of Malcolm and 5.04 inches northwest of Malcolm.
The University of Nebraska Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources’ Crop Watch reported that monthly and wettest calendar day records were reported from McCook at 1.54 inches to Lincoln’s 6.15 inches.
The river and creek had crested from earlier rains by the afternoon of Oct. 1, but Butcher said water was coming from the area north of Seward County and levels were expected to rise.
“We are just kind of monitoring those,” Butcher said. “The National Weather Service has a good predictive model.”
Butcher and Mayor Josh Eickmeyer joined members of the Seward police, street, wastewater and public properties departments late Sept. 30 to monitor flooding and road issues.
They all reconvened at 8 a.m. Oct. 1 and connected with Seward County Emergency Manager Megan Eckles, too.
“It was a big-time joint effort,” Butcher said
Roads, storm sewers full
“We had a lot of flash flooding,” Butcher said.
Some of that flooding was significant and some surprising.
“Some areas I would not have expected,” he said, noting specifically Columbia Avenue north of Hillcrest Drive.
In the daylight, crews were continuing to check the flooded roads to move barricades as needed.
City staff monitored the Blue River level until close to 1 a.m. on Oct. 1. The police confirmed campers at the city campgrounds were safe. Butcher said employees also moved files away from a leak discovered in city hall.
In a few areas, staff removed blockage from storm sewers or dealt with manhole covers.
Seward’s wastewater treatment plant was operating at capacity.
Butcher said some residents have their sump pumps connected to their sanitary systems, which adds additional flow in such situations. City standards do not permit that.
County roads closed
Eckles checked in with communities across the county and reported that Milford had flooding in its park areas and there was a possible road washout in Beaver Crossing.
The Seward County Road Department’s crews were barricading roads as others monitored flood gauges for Lincoln Creek, the Blue River and the West Fork of the Blue River in the Cordova area of southwest Seward County. They were out assessing damages and monitoring flooded areas again on Oct. 1.
“I am just telling people to stay off the roads,” Eckles said.
She discouraged sight-seeing past barricaded roads and driving or walking through flood waters.
“You do not know what the road conditions are underneath it,” she said.
Creek and river water may carry glass, fish hooks or other substances people do not want to have contact with.
“It is not Caribbean water,” she said. “You cannot see through it.”
As bad as the damage to the roads may be, Eckles said the county is fortunate the flooding was not worse.
“Whatever up north is getting will eventually get here,” she said.
However, the Nebraska State Climate Office on Oct. 1 forecast warm dry weather for the next 10 days.
