Flash Flood — Douglas, Nebraska

1999-08-07 · near Omaha, Douglas, Nebraska

Event narrative

Record setting rainfall caused extensive flooding over the Omaha Nebraska and Council Bluffs Iowa metro area and surrounding counties. Rainfall at Eppley Airfield in Omaha totaled 10.46 inches for the 24 hour period ending at 3 am cst 8/7/99, this was the most rainfall recorded in a 24 hour period in Omaha since 1900. The rain fell roughly in two periods, the first lasting from noon through 5 pm cst Friday 8/6/99 and the second beginning Friday evening around 7 pm cst continuing through 3 am Saturday morning. The heaviest rain was mainly confined to the eastern part of Omaha and into Pottawattamie county Iowa with amounts in the 8 to over 10 inch range. Rainfall tapered down in western Douglas county. Aksarben, located in the central part of Omaha, reported around 7 inches, Boystown on the western fringes of Omaha had a little over 5 inches while the NWS office in Valley, in the extreme western part of Douglas county, only received around 2.5 inches. The rain caused extensive flooding along Cole Creek in the east central part of Omaha where 1 man drowned after his basement wall washed out carrying him 40 yards downstream. Other flooding was observed along the Big Papillion Creek where two golf courses and a nursery received substantial damage. The Metro Area Transit Headquarters was hit by an 8 foot wall of water which flooded equipment and numerous buses, and caused around 4.5 million dollars of damage alone. More than 1000 homes, 8 apartment complexes and over 30 businesses sustained significant damage from flooding with total damage between 6.5 million and 11 million dollars. The Big Papillion Creek at Fort Street in Omaha reached 24.8 feet in the morning of 8/7/99, flood stage is 23 feet, while the Little Papillion Creet at Irvington reached 18.1 feet. Flood stage at Irvington is 16.0 feet. Flooded basements, some with collapsed walls, and damaged vehicles appeared to have borne the brunt of the damage in the Omaha/Council Bluffs Metro area. Douglas, Burt and Washington counties of east central Nebraska were declared Federal disaster areas.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5714632. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.