OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — At least one person has died and at least two others are missing in floodwaters that have swamped towns and farmland, washed out roads and bridges, and drowned livestock in Nebraska in the wake of a late-winter storm that overwhelmed rivers and creeks with rain and snowmelt.
The family of 50-year-old James Wilke, of Columbus, Neb., says he was driving his tractor to rescue stranded motorists on a county road cut off by flooding Thursday when a bridge he was crossing collapsed. His cousin, Paul Wilke, told the Columbus Telegram that James Wilke’s body was found downstream. Gass Haney Funeral Home confirmed James Wilke’s death.
Officials in other parts of Nebraska say a Norfolk man was seen on top of his flooded car late Thursday before being swept away in the water and another man is missing after being swept away by waters when a dam collapsed on the Niobrara River.
Late Winter Weather – March 16, 2019
Tom Wilke, left, his son Chad, center, and Nick Kenny, launch a boat into the swollen waters of the North Fork of the Elkhorn River, to check on Wilke’s flooded property, in Norfolk, Neb., Friday, March 15, 2019. Heavy rain falling atop deeply frozen ground has prompted evacuations along swollen rivers in Wisconsin, Nebraska and other Midwestern states. Thousands of people have been urged to evacuate along eastern Nebraska rivers as a massive late-winter storm has pushed streams and rivers out of their banks throughout the Midwest.
(AP Photo/Nati Harnik)
Late Winter Weather – March 16, 2019
Tom Wilke, center, his son Chad, right, and Nick Kenny, load a boat out of the swollen waters of the North Fork of the Elkhorn River after checking on the Wilke’s flooded property, in Norfolk, Neb., on Friday.
(AP Photo/Nati Harnik)
Late Winter Weather – March 16, 2019
The approach to a bridge over the Elkhorn River, seen Friday afternoon, March 15, 2019, leading south out of Stanton, Neb., collapsed because of the flooding on Thursday. Thousands of people have been urged to evacuate along eastern Nebraska rivers as a massive late-winter storm system has pushed streams and rivers out of their banks throughout the Midwest.
(Darin Epperly/The Norfolk Daily News via AP)
Late Winter Weather – March 16, 2019
Madison County Sheriff Todd Volk replaces cones on an area of Kaneb Road north of Norfolk, Neb., that had washed out while making rounds checking on the flooding situation in the county. Thousands of people have been urged to evacuate along eastern Nebraska rivers as a massive late-winter storm has pushed streams and rivers out of their banks throughout the Midwest.
(Darin Epperly/The Norfolk Daily News via AP)
Late Winter Weather – March 16, 2019
Highway 81 near the Industrial Highway intersection north of Norfolk, Neb., is covered for a long stretch with strong flowing flood waters. Thousands of people have been urged to evacuate along eastern Nebraska rivers as a massive late-winter storm has pushed streams and rivers out of their banks throughout the Midwest.
(Darin Epperly/The Norfolk Daily News via AP)
Late Winter Weather – March 16, 2019
An abandoned car sits on Industrial Highway in flood waters north of Norfolk, Neb. According to a trooper on scene, the occupant had to be rescued. Thousands of people have been urged to evacuate along eastern Nebraska rivers as a massive late-winter storm has pushed streams and rivers out of their banks throughout the Midwest.
(Darin Epperly/Norfolk Daily News via AP)
Late Winter Weather – March 16, 2019
Highway 81 north of Norfolk, Neb., is covered in flood waters. Thousands of people have been urged to evacuate along eastern Nebraska rivers as a massive late-winter storm has pushed streams and rivers out of their banks throughout the Midwest.
(Darin Epperly/The Norfolk Daily News via AP)
Late Winter Weather – March 16, 2019
Green Bay firefighters assist residents in evacuating their homes due to the East river flooding on Friday in Green Bay, Wis. Heavy rain falling atop deeply frozen ground has prompted evacuations along swollen rivers in Wisconsin, Nebraska, and other Midwestern states, while powerful wind and snow have impacted hundreds of miles of interstates in North Dakota.
(Adam Wesley/The Post-Crescent via AP)
Late Winter Weather – March 16, 2019
First responders bring out a truckload of residents from the King Lake area near Valley, Neb., because of flooding on Friday, March 15, 2019. Flooding in the central U.S. on Friday caused by rain and snowmelt from a massive late-winter storm forced hundreds of people to evacuate, threatened a nuclear power plant and shut down traffic on part of the Missouri River, foreshadowing a difficult spring flooding season.
(Kent Sievers/Omaha World-Herald via AP)
Late Winter Weather – March 16, 2019
A Bald Eagle takes off from its perch near Eagle Lake, Miss., in Warren County. Backwater flooding continues in the Eagle Lake area, which was at a level of 96.35 feet Friday morning. Levels are expected to rise to as much as 97.5 feet before cresting.
(Courtland Wells/The Vicksburg Post via AP)
