Premium ContentClick on Premium Content on the Featured navigation bar for information.
LINCOLN — Gov. Dave Heineman said Saturday that an ice jam near West Point was causing the most concern about potential flooding in eastern Nebraska.
Still, Heineman was hopeful that the flood threat was beginning to ease.
“The water in the Platte River is flowing fairly nicely now, although we're watching every day for potential flooding,” he said.
For the second day in a row, cloudy weather thwarted Heineman from taking an aerial tour of the region aboard a National Guard Black Hawk helicopter.
The canceled trip had two aims: to assess flooding potential in an area from Columbus to Ashland and to get a bird's-eye view of county roads damaged by the severe winter.
Heineman said he has been given daily reports on the situation from the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency.
Officials with his office will continue to monitor flood dangers before deciding whether to try an aerial tour again this week, said his spokeswoman, Ashley Cradduck.
Larry Dix, executive director of the Nebraska Association of County Officials, said rural roads in many counties are in a perilous state.
“For many roads, the condition is just like a piece of chocolate candy sitting on the dash of your car on a warm day,” he said. “You just sort of sink.”
He said road clearing during winter storms essentially scraped the base layer of gravel off many surfaces.
In areas where there were deep drifts in the ditches, the roads became saturated because there was nowhere for the water to run as the snow melted.
To make matters worse, many county budgets are depleted because of the expense of clearing the snow.
“Now that everybody's blown through their budgets for snow, it's going to be tough,” Dix said. “If there are some emergency funds available, we would encourage a look at it. It's pretty serious.”
Heineman said he wants to get a better assessment of road conditions before deciding how to address them.
“This is a responsibility (of government),” he added. “We're all going to make sure we have safe roads.”
Contact the writer:
402-473-9581, leslie.reed@owh.com
Copyright ©2012 Omaha World-Herald®. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, displayed or redistributed for any purpose without permission from the Omaha World-Herald.
