Flood in Boyd County, Nebraska

Heavy rainfall led to high flows on Ponca Creek that produced extensive flooding and evacuations in Lynch. Homes and business along Ponca Creek sustained four feet or more of flood water damage, while several privately own bridges along Ponca Creek were destroyed. The flood waters eroded streets along and south of Highway 12.

Historical flooding occurred in north central Nebraska as rivers, creeks and other streams rose due to the combination of snow, rain, and rapid snow melt on top of frozen ground. The greatest flooding occurred along the Niobrara, Keya Paha, Elkhorn and Loup Rivers; Ponca, Long Pine, Victoria and Cedar creeks; and one fatality occurred from the failure of Spencer Dam that is located on the Niobrara River. In addition to the Spencer Dam failure, several privately owned dams failed. The failure of these private dams contributed to additional overland flooding and most likely exacerbated the flooding in localized areas that led to community evacuations. The combination of weather elements on ice in the rivers led to increased runoff and rapid breakup of ice. Large ice chucks on several rivers destroyed or damaged river bridges, to include state, county and private owned bridges in several counties.