Flood Safety and Preparedness

Record Flooding in Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Illinois Follows Snowmelt, Bomb Cyclone

At a Glance

Rapid snowmelt and heavy rain sent rivers surging to record levels in parts of the Plains and Midwest.
Over 40 locations set new record river levels, mainly in Nebraska and Iowa.
This included stretches of the Missouri River.

Record river flooding plagued six states in the Plains and Midwest after rapid snowmelt and heavy rain from the bomb cyclone, and ice jams hammered the nation's heartland.

In total, 42 locations set new record river levels, mainly in the Missouri Valley from southeastern South Dakota into Nebraska and western Iowa, but also in parts of Wisconsin, Minnesota and northern Illinois.

(CAT 6 BLOG: Flood Damage May Run Into the Billions)

Locations that set new record river levels in mid-March, 2019.
(Data: USGS, NOAA)

Among these included locations along the Missouri River south of Omaha, Nebraska – Plattsmouth, Nebraska City, Brownville and Rulo – each topping their previous record crests from the June 2011 Missouri Valley flood.

The flooding shut down numerous roads in northwest Missouri, western Iowa and eastern Nebraska, including stretches of Interstate 29.

Elsewhere in Nebraska, record flooding was observed along the Platte River at Ashland, Leshara and Louisville, west and southwest of Omaha. Early on March 16, the Platte levee was overtopped near Thomas Lakes, just north of Ashland. The Elkhorn River at Waterloo crested about 5.5 feet above its previous record crest from March 1962.

A dike failure along the Platte River prompted the evacuation of the National Weather Service office in Valley, Nebraska, between the Platte and Elkhorn rivers. A photo on March 17 showed the office surrounded by flood water. Two days later, a preliminary assessment found little to no water damage in the building.

Flooding of the Loup River near the town of Genoa crushed the record from 1966 by over 3 feet.

A flash flood emergency was issued for Genoa on March 14, prompting evacuations on the south side of the eastern Nebraska town. Evacuations were also reported near Yutan and Duncan, Nebraska.

After the failure of Spencer Dam on northern Nebraska's Niobrara River, a downstream gauge near the town of Verdel exceeded its previous flood of record from March 1966 by over 6 feet as the flood wave surged downstream.

The surreal sight of huge ice slabs deposited on roads from the flood surge was common in several parts of the flood zone. In some areas, the ice piles resembled ice shoves commonly seen on some larger lakes, including the Great Lakes.

(IMAGES: Before/After the Flood Disaster)

In western Iowa, record flooding was seen along stretches of the Boyer, Floyd, Little Sioux, Ocheyedan and West Nishnabotna rivers.

Skunk Creek in the city of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, topped its previous record from June 1957, contributing to a mess of flooding seen around the city, which resulted from melting 8 inches of snow in four days, then picking up about 2.5 inches of rain on top of that.

(MORE: A Rare Confluence of Factors Lead to the Historic Flooding)

A number of locations in Wisconsin also set record flood crests: Sheboygan, Manitowoc, Kewaunee, Martintown and near Cedarburg, just north of Milwaukee.

In the Rockford, Illinois, metro area, the Rock River at Latham Park reached 14.4 feet, besting the previous record crest of 14.3 feet from June 2008.

At one time, there were over 300 river gauges above flood stage in the Mississippi River and Missouri River watersheds.