Missouri River flood impacts southeast Nebraska after overnight rain

Eastern Nebraska received several inches of rain Monday night and Tuesday morning, causing floods in the Lincoln and Omaha metro areas.

According to the National Weather Service, 6.77 inches of rain fell in Papillion between 7 a.m. Monday and 7 a.m. Tuesday. Offutt Air Force Base in Bellevue received 5.77 inches over the same time span.

The City of Papillion closed its recreation areas until further notice Tuesday morning due to flooding.

In Bellevue, the Missouri River rose near Haworth Park, according to the city’s Facebook page.

The river crested in Bellevue Saturday, June 29, but the heavy rains resulted in a second, smaller crest.

The highest crest of the Missouri River reached Rulo, Neb., a village several miles from the Kansas border, Tuesday afternoon.

The flood waters have submerged farmland, flooded the Rulo boat ramp and impacted several riverfront cabins.

Spencer Giles, the emergency management chief of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha district, said local communities have been well prepared and he does not see any risk to the federal levee system.

“We want to reemphasize that we stand ready to assist state, local and tribal authorities for requests received through emergency management channels but are encouraged by the fact that those requests have been relatively few,” he said.

Interstate 29 in eastern Iowa remains closed near Council Bluffs and Austin Yates with the Iowa Department of Transportation said there is still water over the highway near the Honey Creek exit.

However, Yates said a lot of debris has been removed and there is a lot more dry pavement than earlier in the week.

“We're encouraged by very minimal damage, just some shoulder erosion,” he said. “We are preparing to get the interstates opened as soon as the waters are completely off.”