It has been two months since flood waters from the Missouri River devastated communities in Iowa and Nebraska. But the damage from broken levees has yet to be repaired and the risk is still as high as ever.
"There's very limited protection behind the levees,” Matt Krajewski with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers tells 6 News. The Corps is dealing with over 50 levee breaches on the Missouri River.
Krajewski said they opened contract bidding for repair on the final of four large breaches along the main steem, including one just west of Pacific Junction.
Work is underway on the three others, including a large levee break near Plattsmouth where the Missouri and Platte Rivers meet. "We're going in and we're plugging the big holes so that we can stop the river water from creating a new channel and getting on the wrong side of the levee,” Krajewski told 6 News.
Krajewski says it will take another month to two-and-a-half months before they can stop the floodwaters from spilling through those gaps. "The entire system was devastated and you need to be aware that those levees have all been compromised,” he says.
Krajewski said work on the other three levees began about a week ago. He says it could take three years before the entirety of the levee system is safely re-enforced.
(Photo: 6 News)