Loup Generator - Spring 2019

Denise Ziemba, Region 44
Emergency Manager, was a little
more than six months into her
new role as Region 44 Emergency
Manager, when the flooding hit. She
studied, prepared and planned as
much as possible in those months.
“I don’t think any plan could
prepare you for what would happen,”
she said. “You just react and pray that
the decisions you’re making are the
right ones,” she said.
Ziemba helped coordinate the
earlier evacuations of Genoa and was
working through disaster relief in
Boone, Merrick and Nance Counties.
She was also in contact with Ziola,
and Neal Suess, Loup President/CEO,
trying to get damage cost estimates
as well as updates on efforts to fill
the breaches.
Ziemba agreed the District needed
sandbags to help fill the main
south side breach and called NEMA
requesting aid.
On Thursday, a week after the
breach, two Black Hawk helicopters
landed at the Headworks with 18
Nebraska National Guard soldiers
who were ready to help.
The National Guard worked for
three days to fill the breach, finishing
on Saturday, March 23. It took 280
sandbags.
Preferred employees continued to
haul sand and rebuild the permanent
road that runs from Headworks
Park along the canal to the shop.
Koch Excavating and Bygland Dirt
Contracting, Inc., were also working
on roads in the area.
Crews restored power to the
Headworks and Preferred Sands on
Wednesday, March 27, with the help
of Schmader Electric.
Preferred employees helped close
the large breach by the Highway 22
bridge on Friday, March 29.
And on Saturday, March 30, Loup
employees got their first chance to
rest after working every day for more
than two weeks.
‘A long road ahead’
District personnel are now
working to turn temporary fixes into
permanent repairs.
The canal walls need riprap. Crews
have to build a new bridge. The
dredge took on water during the flood
Top: The canal breaches and sandbags at the Genoa Headworks. Nebraska National
Guard photo by Army Staff Sgt. Koan Nissen.
Bottom: One Nebraska National Guard Black Hawk helicopter begins to lift a
sandbag while another waits.
and has two motors to be replaced.
The flood damage estimate sits
somewhere between $20 and $25
million.
Hellbusch said this damage is more
extensive than that sustained in the
flood of 1966 and will take more time.
The weather conditions also affect
repairs.
The 1966 flood followed heavy
rains during an August drought.
This storm hit as the rainy season
is just beginning. In the first few
weeks following the flood, there was
more rain and clouds than sun.
“We’ve got a lot more obstacles to
fight,” he said.
The District’s two powerhouses
were not damaged in the flood
and Loup continued to generate
electricity.
“We continued generating to lower
water levels to alleviate flooding,”
said Hydro Superintendent Brad
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