Since Gov. Jim Pillen declared a state of emergency for southeast Nebraska after heavy rains and flooding swept through the area Sept. 30, Seward County staff have traveled the county to document damage.
Such declarations are one of the first doors to open local governments to federal financial assistance after storms and other disasters.
Seward County Roads Superintendent Jon Regnier said Oct. 8 that he and Seward County Emergency Management Director Megan Eckles toured the county with Nebraska Emergency Management Agency staff and now have to wait for the official assessment of the situation.
At that point, Regnier said the county had segments of just three roads closed for culvert repairs or replacement out of about 20 sections closed during the rain: A section of Van Dorn Road east of Highway 6 near 224th; a minimum maintenance section of Rokeby Road between 205th and 224th Roads; and a segment of 154th Road between Superior and Adams Roads.
“We are still kind of in the preliminary stages,” Regnier said.
Once NEMA and its federal counterpart, FEMA have determined if county damages qualify for assistance, the county would have the option to get some repair costs reimbursed.
But in the meantime, crews are doing what they can to get roads back to normal quickly, Regnier said.
County Commission Chair Misty Ahmic told county commissioners on Oct. 6 that due to an accident on Interstate 80 during the rains, the Nebraska State Patrol diverted traffic to a graveled section of O Street Road between mile markers 462 and 364. That section of the road is between Utica and Goehner, west of where Highway 6 turns south and is not paved.
Regnier said his crew had to put new rock down to get the road’s base in place due to that increased car and semi-truck traffic.
County Commissioner Scott Pekarek noted at the commissioners’ meeting that a lot of material – rock and gravel – would be needed to reshape roads where water from the remnants of Hurricane Polo cut its path.
“It is going to take a while,” he said. “I have confidence that we will get them back in shape.”
Ahmic said the county spent $40,000 in materials and repair last year after traffic was diverted to 154th Road from the interstate’s Pleasant Dale exit, which the state does not reimburse.
The northern sections of 420th and 154th roads are the only unpaved connector roads between Interstate 80 and Highway 34.
At the commissioners’ meeting, Commissioner Darrell Zabrocki said it is hard to divert traffic and keep vehicles on a specific path.
“People will use their own GPS to find a route,” he said.
But road conditions were an issue in other spots, as well, Ahmic said.
“There’s a lot of wash out and a lot of trees and debris on the roads,” she said.
Ahmic, who lives near Milford, said her eight-inch rain gauge was overflowing during the rains and her road was among those closed for a time.
She also noted that some people were going around barricades, and in a few cases striking them.
“People are not trying to be malicious,” she said. “They are just not thinking it through.”
