Nebraska Whacked by Historic Flooding

Pray for Nebraska, it sounds like they’re taking it on the chin:

Large parts of Nebraska and the U.S. Central Plains were underwater on Saturday after a late-winter “bomb cyclone” storm triggered historic flooding along the Missouri and Platte rivers, causing two deaths, tearing apart homes and swallowing roadways.

The National Weather Service predicted dangerous flooding would continue through the weekend in Nebraska and in south and west central Iowa, particularly along the Missouri River.

“We’re still in a very widely dispersed and intense flooding situation in the eastern third of Nebraska,” said Mike Wight, a spokesman for the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency, in a phone interview.

Nebraska has had two flood-related fatalities this week, Wight said. One person died at home after failing to evacuate, although the exact cause of death was unclear, authorities said, and the other was swept away while trying to tow a trapped car with his tractor.

The Missouri River was still rising on Saturday evening, local TV station KMTV reported, with a record crest of more than 47 feet expected early on Tuesday in Brownville, Nebraska, about 70 miles south of Omaha in the eastern corner of the state.

“We’re looking at 4, 5, 6, 7 feet above the highest it’s ever been,” Wight said.