The Great Missouri River Flood of 2011 [photos]

Picasa ^ | June 26, 2011 | Larry Geiger

[EternalVigilance]

Picasa

Larry Geiger

This farmstead north of Omaha completely flooded. The house is hard to see due to the trees, but it is right above the smaller grain bins.

 

North of Omaha looking south. That is I29 under the water, next to the rail road track.

 

I-29 north of Omaha looking north. Looks like a dual lane boat ramp.

 

I-29 North of Omaha underwater.

 

Water flows back from the swollen river into the channels that drained the fields just a few weeks ago.

 

This is the coal fired power plant just south of Souix City. Look close and you can see the sand bags along the shore line...

 

Casino

 

This is a casino in Iowa. No free buffet today, unless you get there by boat.

 

A casino in Iowa

 

The scale of the flooding is hard to comprehend.

 

Sad to see so much loss of property.

 

Hopefully, they are high enough. More water is on the way.

 

North of Omaha Epply Airfield about 105 miles.

 

You can see the normal river chanel in the lower portion of the picture.

 

DeSoto Bend Natioinal Wildlife Refuge.

 

The scope is hard to imagine from Montana to Iowa.

 

The scope of destruction is hard to imagine, even in the air.

 

Just north of Epply Airport Omaha.

 

North of Omaha looking north west. Winds were blowing 25-30 MPH.

 

Fort Calhoun Nuke plant shut down and under seige surrounded by sandbags and water.

 

Normal Missouri River channel.

 

Casino under construction.

 

West side of Sioux City, each house is sandbagged, some with trailers in front for a quick exit.

 

Gavin's Point Spill way releasing 145,000 cubic feet per second as of 6/12/2011. That is a million gallons of water per second!

 

Gavin's Point Dam Spill Way release 145,000 CFPS 6/12/11

 

Casino Omaha

 

Nebraska City, Nebraska, Power Plant

 

Nebraska City Power Plant

 

Hamburg levee break

 

You can make out fence lines in the water. These were productive farm fields.

 

Hamburg, IA

 

New levee was in place as waters came rushing in.

 

Shows how close the water is. That is I-29 in the middle and it was still open this am.

 

It won't be long before I-29 is closed.

 

Road is covered to stop water.

 

I-29 & HWY 2 interchange.

 

Levee watch

 

The water is still rising.

 

Railroad protecting the railroad line.

 

Omaha area, south of Offutt AF Base

 

John Deere Dealer sand bagging.

 

The now closed I-29, north of Omaha taken 6.15.2011

 

Omaha skyline

 

The commute to Omaha is gonna be a few minutes longer. This is I-29 north of Omaha looking south.

 

Omaha skyline

 

Omaha Epply Airport is in danger of flooding.

 

Pumping water over levee to protect crops.

 

Boat dock & marina

 

Cutting the grass along a closed portion of I-29? The road is closed guys!

 

Water had leaked though and the basement is flooded.

 

I-29 25 miles south of Souix City nearly topped by flood waters.

 

I-29 again.

 

Casino Omaha

 

Hamburg area

 

Hamburg

 

Hamburg

 

Hamburg area.

 

Hamburg

 

Normal river channel

 

Nebraska River Neighborhood pumping out area to protect homes. Good luck neighbors!

 

 

[cornfedcowboy]

Along with crop damage, the commercial use of the waterway transporting grain is also very economically tough.

[bgill]

You might want to check out the threads on this for the past few days. There is some concern why it wasn’t better managed. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that large snow falls = large melting runoffs. They knew that would be coming down the river several months ago so had plenty of time to prepare.

[MountainDad]

Checking in from Gretna Nebraska about 14 miles west of the river.

Hey neighbor! I live there too. About 3 miles south of the Flying J.

Looks like those storms are starting up now.

[Palladin]

Thank you for the photos. This is absolutely devastating, and we hear hardly a word about it, except for The Weather Channel.

Where is the Great Leader? When is he going to Nebraska to offer Federal aid...and trailers?

Fuggedaboudit! These are white Christian people. Let them fend for themselves! (/ sarc )

[Sawdring]

Sheesh, quadruple post.

[Chickensoup]

Caused by the EPA who has opened the door for the Soros run ConAgra conglomerate to buy land at firesale prices.

These people should be tried and quickly hanged.

[Palladin]

THX for the tip. Time to restock the pasta shelf.

[Palladin]

Prayers up for everyone affected by these floods out there.

TWC coverage has been OK. They are doing lots of interviews, which give a feel for what people are going through. Packing up and moving out all their belongings...not really knowing what to take and what to leave...some guy left only the stuffed head of a moose that his late wife had shot. A young father was totally in shock. Both he and his sister and their young fams had to move in with the elderly parents. Others are living in friends’ basements. And the worst is yet to come.

God bless all the good folks out there helping each other and practicing the corporal works of mercy in a very real way.

[EternalVigilance]

Well, thank God that out here we still know how to take care of each other.

[EternalVigilance]

My old man filled many a sand bag in this one:

The 1952 FLOOD

When humankind comes together, uniting their resources to reach a common goal, the results can be spectacular.  The people of Omaha, Nebraska, and Council Bluffs, Iowa, demonstrated this in the spring of 1952, when they held back one of the greatest flood ever observed on the Missouri River.

 

 

 

	Testimonies Double-click on icon to hear audio file
	Ann Van Hoff	Betty Davis
	Bill Christiansen	Chet Worm
	Dave Hamer	Dave Hamer Cont.
	Eunice Levisay	Jack Savage
	Jean Davidson	John Jeter
	Lou Worm	Lowell Eyer
	Tom Miller

 

 

 

	Photographs Click on icon to view photograph		-Northwestern Bell. May, 1952.
	Aerial View	ASARCO
	ASARCO 2	Boat Utility
	President Truman	South Omaha
	Building Dike	Human Chain
	Evening	Sandbagging
	Military	Human Chain
	Truman & Media

 

 

	Newspaper Headlines, Stories & Photos A small sample from the extensive clipping file held at the Library-Archive Center.
	Tired, Cold & Hungry	Volunteers
	More Troops!	Wet Basement
	New Hope	Soldiers Rush!
	Airmen Pitch In	Rail Yards
	Rail Bridge	Broken Glass
	16th Street	News Wrong
	Evacuation Map	Sandbag Fight
	Refugees	Ten Spots
	Street Sign	Trouble Spots Photo
	The Facts	Weaker Sex

 

Video Documentary "Man Against the River" (March 21, 1982) A documentary produced by Channel 6, featuring original footage of Edward R. Murrow and his coverage of the flood. Produced by Dave Hamer Reported by Gary Kerr

 

Other Resources The following resources are available at the Douglas County Historical Society Library-Archive Center Omaha World-Herald clipping file Northwestern Bell publication on the flood, containing numerous photos. "The Flood of 1952." An twenty-page research paper prepared by Michael Sciortino. "A Brief Summary of Civil Defense Operations During the Missouri River Flood Emergency of 1952 at Omaha, Nebraska." A ten-page paper prepared by the Omaha Civil Defense Agency. Photograph collection A higher quality version of the video "Man Against the River." B.F. Sylvester, “Omaha’s Flood, 1952,” Nebraska History 35, no. 1 (1954).

If you have questions, comments, or items that you would like to donate to the DHCS archives
in regards to the 1952 Flood, please send an email to: education@omahahistory.org

 

 

BACK to Main Education Page

[EternalVigilance]

[redhead]

Please do not forget to include North Dakota in your prayers. They are still under water there.

[EternalVigilance]

Amen.

[justa-hairyape]

Flooding: The worst is yet to come

In more than a century of record-keeping, the nation's longest river has never coped with more water.

Floodwaters are breaching levees, triggering evacuations, closing highways, swamping thousands of acres of farmland, destroying homes and lapping against hurriedly reinforced floodwalls protecting cities, airports and power plants, including two in Nebraska that produce nuclear power.

[justa-hairyape]

Flood wall fails at Fort Calhoun

[EternalVigilance]

Within the links about the flood in ‘52 are some interesting clippings that show how differently such things were handled sixty years ago.

[Squidpup]

Well it looks like the casinos are all well protected! - thanks for the amazing pics

[Big Red Clay]

Thanks for the pic EV. Do you know if that photo is looking north or south by chance? Also thanks for posting all of the historical information. That was really interesting.

Howdy back neighbor Mountain Dad. I am over in Pebblebrook, across 370 from Tiburon. That was quite a rain we just got a little bit ago eh? Definitely didnt need that. Will be interested to see how this shakes out down south from Plattsmouth to Rockport with all the moisture this weekend. Hopefully the “gullywarshers” (thats what we called heavy downpours down around my hometown of Beatrice when I was a kid)are done for a couple of days.

Definitely not forgetting the good folks in Minot either. What a tragedy for so many good people.

[matt04]

Amazing photos.

It didn’t take long for Obama to get involved and FEMA to set up after the June 1st tornadoes hit the Springfield MA area. It was mostly reported on about Springfield and not the small towns that were hit just as hard.

[Art in Idaho]

. . Caused by the EPA who has opened the door for the Soros run ConAgra conglomerate to buy land at firesale prices.

Isn't there a way for first, everyone in the Midwest and I mean everyone, to know this, and second, absolutely refuse to sell to anyone or anything that is even remotely connected to Soros or one of his fronts.