“It’s catastrophic”: Plattsmouth residents start to realize losses

PLATTSMOUTH – Several employees from OFC/Schmidt Trucking gathered Saturday morning on Bay Road north of Plattsmouth for a mission to get equipment out of their flooded offices.

The company was able to remove several vehicles, trailers and equipment before the Platte River overflowed the levee Friday afternoon and surrounded the office and shop buildings. The water is also over Highway 34/75 and Bay Road. The Nebraska Department of Transportation continues to keep the roads closed.

Air boats were used to travel through the flooded waters and haul equipment back to vehicles to be transported to dry land.

Becky Meinershagen, whose husband Dave works for the trucking company that primarily hauls liquid materials, says this year’s flood is worse than the floods of 1993 and 2011.

The Missouri River at Plattsmouth hit a record high of 40.5 feet midmorning Saturday.

JoAnn Barrett, who moved to the Cass County town of 6,541 from Bellevue last year, calls all the water and destruction “really sad.”

“It’s terrible – people’s homes, livestock and animals. It’s catastrophic is what they’re calling it. I was supposed to go to work on Monday, but I don’t think I’m going to get across Highway 75’s bridge. It’s hard to expect. It’s just terrible.”

Barrett’s home isn’t in immediate danger, but it’s getting close.

Billy Sharp, owner of Sharp’s Towing in Cass County, said for the most part Plattsmouth is high enough not to be swamped.

But his shop, just east of Plattsmouth near the Missouri River, is under water. He suspects his house, just south of the Platte River, is also deluged.

Getting to them is difficult, he said. “My house is under water and so is my shop,” Sharp said. “I can’t get to the shop.”

He said he spent the night in a small house in Plattsmouth that he is remodeling.

Flooding still an issue in Cass County, Plattsmouth

World-Herald News Service

Cass County Emergency Services said emergency workers have picked up people who were stranded or otherwise at risk in homes along the Platte and Missouri Rivers.

It was not immediately clear how many have been picked up.

“We’ve got a lot of people out responding to calls,” an emergency services staffer said. “They have been going to homes and getting people out of homes.”

The county and its primary city, Plattsmouth, are dealing with flooding.

Exiting the county has been a challenge. She said people are generally diverting through Louisville to the west.

She declined to give her name because she isn’t in a supervisory role.

Evacuation notice at Lake Wa-Con-Da continues

Residents living around Lake Waconda, a privately-owned lake immediately adjacent to the Missouri River near Union, Nebraska, have been under evacuation since early Friday afternoon.

They have been asked to evacuate, said Sandy Weyers, director of emergency management for Cass County.

The water remains two feet below the levee and residents have been volunteering to help officials fill sandbags.

In Plattsmouth, positive attitudes as Missouri River gushes over banks

People walked in twos and fours from the Plattsmouth business district on Main Street to the spot where the Missouri River has gushed over its banks.

“Crazy, isn’t it?” said a woman walking up to where the water lapped onto the street.

Ed Olson acted as a narrator of the scene.

“This is a cornfield,” he said, pointing to the small sea in front of him. He motioned to some submerged trailers, RVs and summer homes.

“Now it’s a marina,” Olson said.

The day was sunny and cool.

“Pretty day for a flood. You’ve got to stay positive,” Olson said.

North of Plattsmouth two deer drank from a pool that had seeped into a farmfield.

No disruption to flights at Eppley Airfield

The Omaha Airport Authority said Saturday that flight operations at Eppley Airfield have not been affected by flooding, though travelers should be mindful of regional road closures if coming to Eppley Airfield.”

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The World-Herald News Service contributed to this report.

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