By Megan Alexander
On March 15, the National Weather Service issued a flood warning for Cass County, including other areas in Nebraska and Iowa, as water has overflowed the Platte and Missouri rivers at record-breaking levels.
At 9:15 a.m. March 24, flooding stage was recorded at 30.2 feet, which is 4.2. feet above flood stage. Flood stage is 26 feet, according to the National Weather Service.
At peak height, the water level reached 37.15 feet. This passes the previous record of 36.73 feet on June 30, 2011.
Impacted residents not only experienced damage to their homes, but also experienced Northbound and Southbound Highway 75 closing, creating major inconveniences for Cass County citizens. Highway 75 reopened Tuesday, March 19.
Plattsmouth resident Brad said the community came together and worked as a team to prepare for the floods. “We all live on this lake and all have our own beaches, so we took sand from each other’s beaches and ended up bagging about 1,000 sandbags. We put them outside people’s backdoors, we helped tear out each other’s toilets because we got word that sewage was going to come up in them. We did all we could, but some of our neighbors still have water in their basements.”
More than $436,000 has been donated for Midwest flood relief, including donations from Justin Timberlake, Dan and Shay, and Larry the Cable Guy. Numerous businesses around the Metro are donating to aid in clean up and providing impacted people with food and water.
