Emergency officials say they now believe the levees at Norfolk, Neb., will be topped at about 10 p.m. Tuesday.
The latest flood forecast by the National Weather Service projects a crest of 17 feet and 1 inch, which is one inch above the Elkhorn Rver.
If this crest is reached, there will be the potential for major flooding of that portion of the city that is south of Omaha Avenue, in particular, the area south of Monroe Avenue, according to emergency officials at Norfolk.
The city is conducting a mandatory evacuation of the area south of Washington Avenue and recommending evacuation of the area south of Omaha Avenue.
An American Red Cross shelter remains open at the city auditorium.
Release increased at Gavins Point
On the Missouri River, the Army Corps of Engineers increased the amount of water it is releasing from Gavins Point Dam in northeast Nebraska to prevent water from flowing over the emergency spillway gates. The action held the elevation of the reservoir at a record level, just four inches from the top of the emergency spillway gates.
Gavins Point releases will be held at 33,000 cubic feet per second until flooding begins to subside downstream, saud Jody Farhat, chief of the Corps' water management office in Omaha..
"We have accumulated a significant amount of water in the large Missouri River reservoirs and we will be looking at options for evacuating that storage as downstream conditions permit,” Farhat said.
Options include increasing Gavins Point releases to full powerplant capacity of 35,000 cfs in a few days.
With forecasts for only light rain over the central Missouri River basin for the next several days, the high Missouri River flows are expected to begin falling later this week. The additional releases from Gavins Point will slow the decline but not add to the crest.
The Missouri River is above flood stage from Plattsmouth, Neb., to its confluence with the Mississippi River north of St. Louis. Nearly all the tributary rivers that flow into the Missouri are also above flood stage.
--David Hendee
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