Flood — Douglas, Nebraska

2010-06-12 to 2010-06-16 · near Elk City, Douglas, Nebraska

Event narrative

Rainfall of at least 3 to 5 inches fell over much of the 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. High water or flooding was prolonged by additional rains the week after 6/12. In Douglas county especially hard hit was the Kings Lake area north of Waterloo where 160 homes and cabins sustained flood damage and at least 23 homes were declared unfit or unsafe, mainly due to septic tanks backing up. Flooding closed roads into Kings Lake and also closed Highway 36 west of Elk City for a while. A man drove around a barricade and into flood waters near 252nd and State Streets and was rescued by a sheriff's deputy who broke out his car window. Although the man suffered from hypothermia, the injuries were not life threatening. County roads and farmland along the river were also flooded. The Elkhorn River at Waterloo crested at a near record around 18.7 feet during the late evening of 6/14, flood stage is 17 feet and the record is just over 19 feet. A levee protected much of Waterloo, but recreation areas along the river were flooded. The river at Waterloo was above flood stage from the late afternoon of June 13th until the early morning hours of the 16th, although some flooding likely started earlier and lasted a little longer in the northwest part of the county.

Wider weather episode

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.

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Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 231328. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.