The Flood~

Tinkle Branch was flowing bank to bank on the thirteenth.  It rained most of the following night & the temperatures had warmed.  Keg Creek was already at capacity & woody debris had jammed under the bridge on Vine St.

Vine St. Bridge~

Gavin's Point Dam in SD, started releasing huge amounts of water & everyone downstream was told to take precautions.  Word came Thursday afternoon, the ice on the Niobrara River had caused the Spencer Dam in NE to fail.  That released an eleven-foot wall of water. The Missouri was already running near to flood stage...

Log pulled from Keg Creek at the bridge~

When Butch got home, we drove south of town, following the creek. Water was completely out of the banks & spreading rapidly over the farmland.

Bridge at Kesterson

The wind was blowing bitter cold!  The temperature was around freezing, with the wind was gusting over 30 mph. 

Keg Creek - Looking SW

Friday, the evacuation order went out. Anyone living between Interstate 34 & 29 were told to evacuate.  I hauled what few boxes we could gather & packed books for a friend who's farm was surrounded by creeks & levees.

March 15th water to the top of the Levee.  Iowa side of the Plattsmouth bridge - Photo credit - Silver Cloud Photography

 Levee's, not all repaired since the 2011 flood, started to fail. There was nothing to hold back all the water coming down the river... It was a sunny beautiful day, making it easy to imagine everything was normal. At least in town...

Glenwood Municipal Water Plant

Soon, a call went out for people to fill sandbags!  The City Municipal Water was in the area where the evacuation was in effect.  Over 400 people turned out & worked non-stop.  It wasn't enough...

Saturday, another sunny day.  Butch rented a dump trailer & started hauling rock for the walkway to the cabin & more for that driveway.  On his third trip, after hearing about the water he was seeing, I went along.  We arrived at the gravel company & told they'd been waiting for our arrival, before evacuating.  The road would soon be under water.

By day's end, the scope of the disaster was just too large to believe.  Photos like the one below started appearing on our local Facebook page. 

Photo credit Steven Bogert

Above is Hwy 29 north toward Council Bluffs, with the on ramp from Interstate 34 to the right.  You can see the campground to the right of the ramp.

Campground~

Sunday, since our exit to Interstate 34 was between the two closed sections, we drove west & parked off to the side of 195th, just shy of the bridge.

Steve's photo of 195th, north to Council Bluffs

The road along the hills is the one we took to Council Bluffs. You can see how the elevation of the Loess Hills protect from the Missouri flood basin.

West of 195th & Hwy 34~

Butch had to point it out to me twice, for me to see the railroad crossing sign.

Hwy 34 in the background~

Water was pouring through a culvert & this property on the north side of Interstate 34, was completely flooded.  The road had just opened, but was down to one lane in spots.

By Monday morning, even more water had flowed in...  Schools were open, volunteers were helping out everywhere there was a need.  Our local food bank was in full swing.  We were notified on Tue. to conserve water & by that afternoon, to no longer drink water out of the tap.

The City of Red Oak sent trucks full of water for the town.  Bottles of water started coming in from businesses in Council Bluffs.  As this week has progressed, the strength & resiliency of the mid-west people has been demonstrated again & again.  Homes around town, on wells, have offered water to anyone who needs it.  They have also put together a color coded plan - offering to do laundry!  The schools have had porta potty's delivered & all water conserving measures are in effect.

The latest news is that it will be at least 30-days before we again have drinkable water coming through the faucets.