WEDNESDAY UPDATES: Reynolds issues disaster proclamation for Iowa counties (2024)

Omaha, Council Bluffs give details on storm debris collection; water plant without power after storm; Iowa DOT shuts down stretches of I-680, I-29

Published: Jun. 26, 2024 at 1:00 PM CDT|Updated: 16 hours ago

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - Flooding from Tuesday night’s storm has impacted several areas around the Omaha-metro area, particularly in Iowa.

Here are the latest official updates:

8:31 p.m. -- OPPD’s outage map shows 5,113 customers in Douglas County, 19 in Sarpy County, and 46 in Washington County are still without power. Meanwhile, MidAmerican Energy reports that 1,948 customers in the Council Bluffs area were now without power.

6:31 p.m. -- OPPD’s outage map shows 6,806 customers in Douglas County, 32 in Sarpy County, and 47 in Washington County are still without power. Meanwhile, MidAmerican Energy reports that 1,341 customers in the Council Bluffs area are still without power.

3:52 p.m. -- Gov. Kim Reynolds issued a disaster proclamation for four Iowa counties — Pottawattamie, Mills, Harrison, and Johnson counties — as residents and crews continued to work on clearing debris from recent storms. The latest proclamation includes hail, flooding, and other such damage caused by storms that have hit those areas starting Friday, June 21.

3:17 p.m. -- Council Bluffs Public Works crews will collect storm-related tree debris left at the curb starting at 7 a.m. Friday, Monday, and Tuesday. Debris collection will only occur on the first pass-through; residents will need to remove debris themselves after those dates. Pickup days are subject to change in the event that Public Works crews are needed to address rising river levels.

2:30 p.m. -- OPPD’s outage map shows 6,834 customers in Douglas County and 1,346 in Sarpy County are still without power. Meanwhile, MidAmerican Energy reports that 2,613 customers in the Council Bluffs area are still without power.

12:32 p.m. -- Pottawattamie County advised that a 1.5-mile stretch of Birdsley Road that had been closed because of downed trees and powerlines had been reopened. There were also small segments of Evergreen Lane and Oak Valley Road that had been cleared as well.

12:10 p.m. -- Omaha has opened a drop-off site for tree debris at Levi Carter Park, located near Eppley Airfield. The site is open to residents — not businesses or contractors — from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily, but will be entirely closed on July 4. Those dropping off debris are advised to enter from the east side of the park, on Abbott Drive, and exit on the west. [MAP]

11:30 a.m. -- OPPD reports outages are back down to 10,595 customers.

10:13 a.m. -- River cresting estimates have been pushed back about 18-24 hours, which would mean likely sometime Friday for the Omaha area, and Saturday for Plattsmouth. The Blair area is closest to peaking as of Wednesday morning with another 4-5 feet to go. Senior Chief Meteorologist Rusty Lord has more details.

9:45 a.m. -- A circut lockout caused additional OPPD outages, putting the total number of customers without power at 12,421.

9:07 a.m. -- Platte Basin Timelapse is livestreaming the Missouri River flow with its camera at Omaha’s Kiewit Luminarium.

9 a.m. -- Until further notice, John J. Pershing Drive between Dick Collins Road and Craig Avenue; and Dick Collins Road between North 30th Street and John J. Pershing Drive will be closed due to storm damage, according to Omaha Public Works. [MAP]

8:17 a.m. -- A mile-long stretch of Dogwood Road in Pottawattamie County is closed between 250th and 260th streets. There are downed trees and power lines there. The road is expected to reopen by 3:30 p.m. Thursday. [MAP]

8:06 a.m. -- With power knocked out to the water plant in Carson, Iowa, during Tuesday night’s storm, residents there were being asked to conserve water in hopes of avoiding the need for a boil order.

7:27 a.m. -- M.U.D. verified its three area water and gas plants have not been affected by overnight flooding in the Omaha area. But they did advise residents that there might be a change in taste or odor as flooding continues in the area. “Our water quality chemists perform over 1,000 tests per day to ensure we are meeting or exceeding all standards,” Wednesday morning’s release states.

7:10 a.m. -- Pottawattamie County announced a few more road closures due to flooding in the area: A mile-long stretch of Sumac Road and nearly 3 miles of Missouri Avenue, both from Old Lincoln Highway (L20) west to 152nd Street, will be closed. [MAP] Not quite 7 miles of River Road N, from Council Bluffs city limits north to I-680 — including Hamlet Lane — is closed. Joslin Avenue is also closed from Old Mormon Bridge Road (G37) south to Council Bluffs city limits. [MAP] All of these roads are expected to remain closed through 6 p.m. Monday.

6:32 a.m. -- Pottawattamie County closed a 6-mile stretch of 145th Street, between Desoto Avenue and Rosewood Road, to through traffic. It’s expected to reopen by 6 p.m. Monday. [MAP]

6:30 a.m. -- OPPD reports that peak outages reported overnight between 10 p.m. Tuesday and 1 a.m. Wednesday totaled 37,239 customers. All but 10,732 had been restored as of 6:15 a.m. as teams worked throughout the night.

OVERNIGHT -- IDOT confirmed to 6 on Your Side late Tuesday night that portions of Interstates 680 and 29 would be shut down effective at midnight Wednesday through the weekend due to to rising water on the Missouri River. A detour was set to be posted near Loveland to take traffic from the I-29/I-880 interchange east to the I-80/I-880 interchange, then southwest on I-80 into Council Bluffs.

Also on Tuesday, Eppley Airfield said it expected to experience delays Wednesday after it was forced to close late Tuesday in order to assess damage and remove debris.

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