Loup Generator - Spring 2019

‘We were in awe’
Flood estimate tops $20M
The before and after photos illustrate the
destructive power of water and ice.
A home lost. A building damaged. Earth
and concrete moved with apparent ease.
Water everywhere. It seemed unbelievable.
The water began rising March 13.
Loup Power District employees tried to
fight Mother Nature with sandbags and
determination. But in the end, they had to
concede.
“We didn’t win this battle,” said Andy
Zarek. “We’ll get the next one.”
‘A recipe for disaster’
Zarek began working for Loup Power
District 20 years ago at the age of 18.
Three years ago, he was named Headgates
Operator and moved with this family to a
District-owned home on the site.
He knows the river can behave badly
this time of year. He watches it daily.
Listens to weather reports. Monitors the
canal.
Weather reports warned of a bomb
cyclone that was forecast to hit much of
Nebraska. The explosive storm, fueled by
rapidly dropping atmospheric pressure,
would hit like a winter hurricane. Still,
Zarek wasn’t overly worried.
On Monday, March 11, Loup employees
broke up ice around the intake gates with
dynamite and a crane. They noticed it was
unusually thick — about two feet in spots.
Usually, the weather warms up a bit
in February, melting and breaking the
river ice cap slowly. But this February was
unusually cold. And early March followed
suit, roaring in like a lion.
Then, the forecast for Wednesday,
March 13, called for highs around 60 °F
with some heavy rain.
“That’s a recipe for disaster,” he said.
‘Way more than we expected’
The Loup Power canal and two
powerhouses were constructed in the
1930s with a $7.3 million loan and grant
from the Public Works Administration.
The Genoa Headworks serves as the
beginning of Loup’s canal system. Gates
are adjusted as needed to direct the proper
amount of water from the Loup River into
the canal.
More than 80 years of ice jams and
heavy rains and snow melt have passed
through the canal. Only once, in August
of 1966, did those waters cause any
substantial damage.
Heavy rain filled the Loup River and
spilled over the intake structure. The
water flowed north and traveled along the
side of the canal before washing out a road
and going back into the canal.
It also washed out two bridges and
damaged a number of transmission lines.
The District’s dredge — used to clean
sediment from the two-mile settling
basin at the start of the canal — washed
downstream until it hit a tractor. The
impact was nearly $600,000 — about $4.4
million in today’s dollars.
But that was more than 50 years ago.
For the last 26, Randy Prososki has also
watched over the river and canal. He took
over as Headworks Supervisor last October
following the retirement of Gary Pearson.
Every year, the ice jams break up and
go down river.
“We were prepared for the ice to go
out of the river like it does every year,”
Prososki said.
And that’s what happened on the
afternoon of Wednesday, March 13. The
first ice jam broke and went through the
canal at around 3:30 p.m., followed by
a second around 5 p.m. Then Prososki
headed home.
Zarek watched the ice go through the
canal. It was a little thicker than usual
and bent up a few of the gate arms, but
he figured they could be replaced. He still
wasn’t overly concerned, but asked his
wife and two children to stay in Genoa
with family. Better to err on the side of
caution.
Before and after aerial drone photos: The top photos show the north side canal breach and damage
to the shop, boiler room and home at the Genoa Headworks.
The bottom two photos show damage on the south side of the canal. Photos by Aric Alt.
SPRING 2019 7