And the rain fell, and the floods came,
and the winds blew and beat on that house,
but it did not fall.
— Matthew 7:25
My fellow Nebraskans will remember the storm that paved way for historic flooding in our state in March 2019.
I am writing this blog post on Jan. 23, 2020. Forecasters are already talking about the potential for flooding in our state as ice on vital waterways thaws this spring.
The storm system that hit the state mid-March 2019 has been described as “historic.” The snowfall was particularly troublesome in the northeast part of Nebraska — and had tragic effects for a significant number of communities located near the Niobrara, Platte, and Missouri Rivers.
The storm was referred to as a “mid-latitude cyclone” (or “bomb cyclone”), bringing strong winds and precipitation. This particular storm strengthened rapidly.
The weather system brought wet snow, rain, and 40 to 60 mph winds. The lingering snow and ice from February didn’t help matters. To at insult to injury, the ground was frozen, meaning the earth couldn’t absorb the additional moisture.
The results proved devastating for a number of towns, villages, and hamlets strewn across the eastern part of the state. The communities impacted included a number of familiar places within spitting distance of the Omaha metropolitan area.
Nature’s destructive power also decimated smaller communities located off the beaten path, in remote parts of the state. Homes and businesses were lost, dams disintegrated, and vital roadways were washed away.
NET Nebraska produced a terrific documentary called “And The Floods Came” that chronicles the influx of moisture. The film is available on the NET Nebraska website, the PBS app, and NET’s YouTube channel.
Here is the full documentary on YouTube:
“And The Floods Came” was the subject of the Omaha Press Club’s Noon Forum on Jan. 23, 2020. NET Senior Producer Bill Kelly presented the documentary and discussed its production with attendees.
“Many media organizations had difficulty getting around the state,” said Kelly. “In this day of reduced media resources, there weren’t as many boots on the ground.”
As a result, NET culled footage taken from a variety of sources, including video shot by residents, businesses, and emergency service personnel in the communities that experienced the brunt of the flooding.
“There were 53 individuals and businesses that you saw their footage,” Kelly said about the finished documentary. “There were 100 to 150 others that contributed.”
"I’m proud of that, but I also think it’s a real interesting sign of how, for journalists, storytelling is changing. It’s just people who are, in effect, taking home movies, but they don’t realize how important that is.”
I’ve talked before on this blog of the role the responsibility people have — as “citizen journalists” — in today’s news cycle. The abilities that technology enables (compared to even a decade ago) allows for vital “man on the scene” content.
I try to take photos and videos on my iPhone with a “landscape/horizontal” orientation because the image will be formatted properly for platforms like YouTube on 16:9 TV screens.
Kelly concurs with that sentiment.
“If you are ever in the middle of some crisis or big news event — or even with your own home movies,” said Kelly, “don’t ever shoot vertically (turn your phone and shoot horizontally).”
“And The Floods Came” focused largely on smaller communities further afield from big population centers like Omaha. Among the communities featured were St. Edward (population 796), Verdigre (population 575), Lynch (population 245), O’Neill (population 3,705), and Dannebrog (population 303).
Anthony Ruzicka — one of the farmers effected in the northern part of the state — described the floodwaters as looking like “an ocean.”
The flooding impacted vital structures like Spencer Dam (providing hydroelectric power in Boyd County) and Cooper Nuclear Station in Brownville, NE (the largest single unit electrical generator in the state) where my brother-in-law is an engineer.
In addition, the floodwaters impacted travel on Interstate 29 and Highway 75 for many months north and south of Omaha.
Kelly wishes the documentary could have spent more time in Sarpy and Cass County (along the Missouri River). He made the decision to focus on smaller communities because he liked the idea of spending more time focusing on areas receiving less news coverage at the time (that needed the attention). Had the resources been available, he believes NET could have done an interesting 90-minute program.
My friend Christopher Marlowe (a high school classmate) runs Marlowe Family Farms — a sustainable farming operation in Anoka, NE. His home and business suffered when Spencer Dam was destroyed during the 2019 floods (the damage took out the rural water pipeline that supplied Boyd and Holt Counties with water).
Bridget set up a GoFundMe to help with Marlowe’s rebuilding efforts. Specifically, the fundraiser was put together to rebuild a dam on Marlowe’s property in conjunction with the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service–Nebraska (NCRS). The NCRS picked up 75 percent of the cost, but Marlowe had to pick up the other 25 percent (~$5,000). The fundraiser is designed to help with that expense.
“Our state did a pretty remarkable job,” said Kelly. “The federal government did step up. There was a lot of grumbling, but they did step up.”
Bridget and I donate annually to NET Nebraska and enjoy seeing important programming like “And Came The Floods” on our PBS affiliate. This sort of in-depth coverage (that goes beyond the soundbite) is a meaningful resource in our world today.
The destructive effects of the 2019 floods are still being felt in Nebraska. Entire towns still can’t be occupied (Winslow, NE is looking at relocating the whole town). In addition, sand transported by floodwaters has made certain lands "un-farm-able."
“And The Floods Came” is a documentary reminding us all that nature’s destructive power can last for generations. It also illustrates how communities — with a unified purpose — can rise to the occasion and lift up neighbors, friends, and family during a time of crisis.
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