Heavy rains force road closings, concert cancellation

Daily Sun staff

It was water, water everywhere in Gage County as areas received more than five inches of rainfall during the night, Mark Meints, Gage County emergency management director, said.

“(The weather service) was expecting rain, but not this much,” he said. “They were a little surprised when we were calling reports in.”

Sunland rainfall totals ranged from 1.90 inches in Hanover, Kan., to 5 inches in Fairbury. Beatrice Municipal Airport officially received 3.35 inches, but many rain gauges in the city received in the neighborhood of 5 inches.

The rain also forced cancellation of Thursday night’s concert at the Gage County Fair and Expo and postponement of Friday morning’s 4-H Horse Show.

Several roads were closed throughout the county Thursday night as water crept over them, Meints said. Roads closed included several county roads, Holmesville blacktop and the Odell blacktop.

U.S. Highway 77, from Beatrice to Maple Road, was also closed for about an hour Thursday night after water was over the roadway.

Several roads were washed out and several gravel roads along the Big Blue River remained closed on Friday.

In Beatrice, several streets were flooded and were barricaded off, Ron Baete, BPW street superintendent, said. The street were reopened by 11 p.m. as the water receded.

Memorial Drive continues to be closed Friday and Center Street will likely be closed by Friday afternoon as the water gets closer to the road, Baete said.

Beatrice Fire and Rescue responded to two calls Thursday night to assist people in stalled vehicles in water, according to fire and rescue reports.

In the Adams area in northern Gage County, reports of half-inch hail and 60 to 70 mph winds were reported, Meints said.

The 911 Communications Center took a hit Thursday night after lightning struck the center causing problems with the telephone system, Meints said. 911 service was still available but dispatchers were having to operate out of the main center and the emergency operations center at the Gage County Courthouse.

Meints said that the main 911 Communications Center was in full operation Friday morning.

Gage County emergency management crews will be assessing damage around the county Friday, Meints said. They will also be keeping a close eye on the Big Blue River, which is expected to crest at 24 feet by Sunday afternoon.

If it continues to rain, Meints said there may be a possibility of flooding over West Court Street.

From 7:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. Thursday night areas around Beatrice experienced power outages as lightning damaged and blew out fuses, Pat Feist, Board of Public Works electric superintendent, said.

Work crews work through the storm to restore electricity to areas affected, Feist said. As of Friday morning they had not received any additional calls for power outages.

The BPW electric department will be spending time this morning checking for any damage not seen Thursday night, he said.

In Jefferson County, Emergency Management Director John McKee said a number of gravel county roads were under water early Friday morning. There was also a report of water over Nebraska Highway 8 west of Reynolds early Friday morning.

Some streets in Fairbury had been under water during the heaviest parts of the rain Thursday night but had been reopened.

“There was just a lot of water coming down at one time,” he said.

He said the brunt of the rainfall fell south of U.S. Highway 136. The Reynolds are received anywhere from 4 to 6 inches of rain.

The National Weather Service issued a number of flood warnings Thursday night and Friday morning for the Sunland area.

In Gage County, a flood warning was issued for the Big Blue River at Beatrice and Barneston.

In Beatrice, the river level was recorded at 17.8 feet, 1.8 feet above flood stage of 16 feet, at 7 a.m. Friday. The river was expected to rise to 23 feet by Friday afternoon and the fall below flood stage by late Monday morning.

In Barneston, the river was at 18.6 feet Friday morning, but was expected to reach 22.5 feet Friday evening, 2.5 feet above flood stage. The river was expected to recede to below flood stage late Saturday morning.

A flood warning was also issued for Rose Creek in southwest Jefferson County after water was reported over Highway 15.

In addition, a flood warning was issued for the Little Blue River near Fairbury. At 1:30 a.m. Friday, the river was at 14.9 feet, but was expected to rise above flood stage of 17.5 feet Friday afternoon and crest at 18.5 feet by Saturday morning.

At 18.5 feet, Frederick Avenue in southwest Fairbury is closed due to high water.

The NWS also issued a flood warning for Turkey Creek in Saline County until late Monday night. At 6:45 a.m. Friday, the creek near DeWitt was reported to be at 12.1 feet, a foot above flood stage of 11 feet, and was expected to reach near 14 feet by Saturday morning.

Further flood warnings were issued Friday morning for the Big Blue River near Blue Rapids, Kan., where the river was expected to rise above flood stage of 26 feet by Friday afternoon and continue to rise to near 35.5 feet by early Sunday morning, and for the Little Blue River above Barnes, Kan., where the river was expected to rise by Saturday evening to 18 feet, 2 feet above flood stage.

Storms caused Thursday evening’s Eric Church concert at the Gage County Fair and Expo to be canceled.

Fair Board Member Roger Henrichs said individual tickets for Thursday’s concert will be honored at Friday’s Emerson Drive show. As of this morning, the Emerson Drive concert was still on, but it would depend on the weather.

Paul Hay, UNL Extension educator, said Friday’s 4-H Horse Show had been postponed until 9 a.m. Saturday, also depending on the weather. The dedication of the new restroom/concession building at the horse arena scheduled for noon Friday was also postponed until a date to be announced.

Other fair events scheduled for Friday are expected to proceed as planned, he said.