The Community Gives Back


NORFOLK – The Northeast Nebraska community came together to give back to a Nebraska State Patrol Trooper who gave so much to help them.

Law enforcement, first responders and the public gathered at the Northern Heights Baptist Church in Norfolk on Wednesday for a luncheon fundraiser for a member of the State Patrol, who lost almost everything in the historic March flooding.

Trooper Tyler Kudera lives in Pierce and says when the flooding reached his home, he was out rescuing those who needed it most.

“At the time my house was flooded, I was actually helping the Sheriff in Pierce. We were trying to find a couple that had gotten swept off a flooded roadway. They were stuck in a vehicle and I jumped in with the Sheriff since he had a four wheel drive vehicle. We were trying to find the location of where this couple was and their vehicle so we could rescue them.” Kudera says.

Kudera says the floodwaters quickly reached his home that day.

“I got a call from one of the Pierce Police officers that said there was water up to the doors to my house and I told him to go ahead and go into the house and just kind of inspect just to see what was going on with it. A few minutes later I got a call back saying my house was flooded.”

Colonel John Bolduc says many first responders left their homes during the flooding to help out their communities.

“What a lot of people don’t know is that while these events were going on there were troopers, there were local police officers, First responders, figherfighters who were out there helping others while there homes were flooding as well.” Bolduc says.

Bolduc says being at the fundraiser was something important to him and the rest of the Patrol.

“When I heard that this community fundraiser was going on. We thought It was very important for us to be here to show our support for him and of course to say thank you to the community for rallying around one of our Troopers. It really has meant a lot to us, so we wouldn’t miss it.”

Kudera says even though his home was ruined by the floods, he knows he’s not the only one in Nebraska to have had the same life-altering experience.

He’s humbled that so many people helped not only him, but the rest of Pierce and the state clean up from the devastation.

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