Flood in Stanton County, Nebraska

Rainfall of at least 3 to 5 inches fell over much of the upper Elkhorn River basin in the week ending 7am 6/12, including 1 to 2 inch 24 hour amounts ending 7am the 12th. This caused record or near record flooding along the Elkhorn River from around Clearwater and Neligh downstream to the Elkhorn's confluence with the Platte River. The flooding was prolonged by additional rains the next few days. In Stanton county at least 70 miles of gravel roads along the Elkhorn were damaged by flood waters, two bridges were destroyed and several others seriously damaged. Several culverts were also washed away. In addition, the main water supply line to Stanton that ran under the Elkhorn sustained damage on the 15th prompting temporary measures to route water into town through a backup measure. Farm fields along the river also sustained damage to crops and some had land covered in sand as the river receded. The Elkhorn River near Pilger reached a record crest of just over 15 feet during the evening of June 16th, flood stage is 12 feet. The river at Pilger was above flood stage from the morning of June 11th until the early morning hours of the 19th.

An upper level trough over the western U.S. pushed a cold front into central Nebraska during the overnight hours of June 11th and 12th. This system brought scattered heavy-rain producing thunderstorms to eastern Nebraska and western Iowa. For many areas it was the 3rd day-in-a-row with significant or heavy rain. Many locations from central into northeast Nebraska received 3 to 4 inches or more rainfall in the 72 hours ending the morning of the 12th. This additional heavy rain fell on saturated soils from rainfall prior to the 10th and prolonged, intensified or increased the coverage of flooding across eastern Nebraska and helped shift the flooding to larger rivers. Flood damage over Nebraska in mid to late June amounted to at least 20 million dollars to public property alone and which did not account for damage to private property or crops. The White House declared a federal disaster for 53 counties in Nebraska for June flooding.