Photo By Lisa Crawford | Corey Boyer, construction representative, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Omaha District,...... read more read more
Omaha, Neb. - When the Missouri River and its tributaries rose above flood stage in late June, the damaging flood waters required an aggressive response and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District led the charge of that response.
This flooding event, which caused damage across multiple states, was primarily triggered when an unusual weather pattern brought torrential rainfall to southeastern South Dakota, northwest Iowa, and north central Nebraska.
"Our district not only has an incredible team of experts with vast experience, but we also live and work in these communities, so it's very personal to many of us,” said Col. Robert Newbauer, Omaha District commander. “Each and every day, USACE is fully committed to providing all of the assistance we can to help reduce the threat to life and property.”
Immediate Response
As water levels began to rise on June 21, the Omaha District sprang into action alerting its division headquarters of the situation and implementing its flood risk management plan. This included activating its emergency operations center to coordinate response efforts and establishing contact with state, tribal and local leaders, and emergency managers.
“The vigilance, foresight and decisive actions provided by the people of the Omaha District was invaluable, allowing the response to ramp up quickly and targeted surveillance to start early,” said Jeff Hall, USACE Northwestern Division deputy commander. “Hours, minutes and seconds are crucial in rapidly evolving situations and the district’s response gave decisionmakers, at all levels, the timely information needed to protect people and property.”
Within 12 hours, USACE teams were deployed to monitor dams, reservoirs and federally managed levees, ensuring their integrity and assisting stakeholders with technical assistance to mitigate downstream impacts while USACE liaisons were assigned to South Dakota, Iowa and Nebraska and emergency management officials began marshalling and distributing flood response supplies and equipment as they were requested.
As rainfall subsided across the region, the Omaha District commander moved to meet face-to-face with the governor of South Dakota, the mayor of Bellevue, Nebraska and the Offutt Air Force Base commander. During this time, Newbauer also met with the governors of Nebraska and Iowa, and the mayors of Omaha, NE and Council Bluffs, Iowa, while also initiating a daily Missouri River Basin-wide stakeholder call to communicate as widely and transparently as possible about the evolving conditions and actions being taken.
Protecting Lives and Property
One of the Omaha District’s primary tasks was to assess and provide technical assistance to the federally managed levee systems, as needed, along the Missouri River and its tributaries. To do that, 10 levee surveillance teams engaged daily with levee sponsors, traveling up and down the length of the river, and provided aid when issues were identified. Engineers worked around the clock to identify weak points and bolster them with sandbags, rock riprap and other materials. In some areas, temporary flood barriers were erected to provide additional protection.
In addition to the ground-based levee surveillance teams, USACE personnel took to the water, via boat, and to the air, by helicopter, to conduct orthographic photo and lidar surveillance of conditions along the Missouri River from Sioux City, Iowa to Rulo, Nebraska. Lidar, which stands for Light Detection and Ranging, is a method for determining ranges by targeting an object or a surface, in this case the Missouri River, with a laser and measuring the time for the reflected light to return to the receiver. The use of cutting-edge tools by world-class engineers enabled decisionmakers at all levels to have the most accurate, up-to-date information available to make the best decisions to protect lives and property.
Managing Water Levels
Managing the water levels in the river system's reservoirs was another critical aspect of USACE’s response from the outset. In close coordination with the Omaha District, USACE’s Northwestern Division carefully balanced the need to release water from the reservoirs to prevent gate overtopping with the necessity to avoid exacerbating flooding downstream. This delicate balancing act required constant monitoring and adjustments, with engineers using sophisticated modeling tools to predict and respond to changing conditions.
“If not for the controlled releases from the dam system on the Missouri River, the flooding would have been much worse downriver,” said South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem on social media. “We appreciate the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers working with us throughout this flooding.”
Keeping the Public Informed
Throughout the crisis, the Omaha District maintained transparent and consistent communication with the public, tribes, emergency managers and elected officials. Daily briefings were held to update all stakeholders on the highly dynamic situation, and social media platforms were utilized to disseminate real-time information.
“Thankful for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers levee teams who have been monitoring the Missouri River around the clock and doing an outstanding job of keeping the public informed about conditions,” said U.S. Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska on social media in the midst of the flooding.
Rebuilding and Resilience
Overall, the Missouri River mainstem dam system and federally managed levee systems performed as designed with no breaches, no overtopping and minimal damage considering the situation. As floodwaters began to recede, the Omaha District’s focus shifted to recovery. Plans to conduct damage assessments to identify levee areas in need of repair and the coordination with local authorities to prioritize and plan reconstruction efforts began immediately. Leaning on lessons learned after 2019 flooding, USACE experts recognized the value in restoring damaged infrastructure and repairing and reinforcing levees as soon as possible is an important way to strengthen resilience in long-term flood mitigation measures.
Another way the Omaha District is looking to improve the resilience of the Missouri River system is by evaluating the performance of existing flood control structures, identifying opportunities for improvements and collaborating with stakeholders to develop comprehensive flood management strategies.
A Commitment to Service
The June 2024 flooding along the Missouri River and its tributaries tested the capabilities and resilience of the region and USACE’s Omaha District. Through world-class expertise, dedication and unwavering commitment to the public it serves, USACE played a crucial role in mitigating the impact of this natural disaster and helping communities recover. As the region recovers, the lessons learned from this event will inform future efforts to reduce risk to lives and property from the ever-present threat of flooding.
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| Date Taken: | 07.15.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 07.16.2024 09:05 |
| Story ID: | 476248 |
| Location: | OMAHA, NEBRASKA, US |
| Web Views: | 89 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Leading the charge against the June 2024 Missouri River floods, by Andrew Nystrom, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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