​The flood of 1984

The Story of Dahl's Steakhouse
Laythen Streit Class of 2020

Joann Dahl and her husband Elwood were, at the time of the 1984 flood, the proud owners of the Dahl’s Steakhouse. Joann and her husband had a completely established restaurant and were making a decent living with the use of the steakhouse but little did they know that a flood would soon arrive and quite literally wash everything away.
Unfortunately, Joann had little time to prepare for the incoming flood due to the warning being so sudden. The water was moving so fast that moving the store’s supplies and equipment was near impossible. Joann had stated that while she rushed home to fetch supplies, a large tree or piece of debris had smashed the front windows of her restaurant which allowed water to fill the interior. The flood water to contaminated everything inside.
After Joann and her husband had moved all that they could the flood waters had begun to reach the town’s borders. The water seemed to come out of nowhere due to the flood’s speed and before anyone knew it, it had begun to flood the entire town. After the water had reached their restaurant Joann and her husband decided to help people by adding sand bags to keep some of the water out of the rest of the town. The American Red Cross was also helping the citizens by handing out bottles of water and food for everyone in need.
After all was said and done, Joann and her husband returned to their restaurant, after the water was mostly gone. The damage to the establishment was extreme. Every bit of equipment, food, and drinks had to replaced due to the possible contamination from the flood water. Some equipment was saved but had to undergo extensive cleaning in order to be used again. Sadly, Joann had no flood insurance to help cover the cost of the damage to her establishment but had some help from state insurance.
Joann and her husband were “in a hole” as they called it after all of the repairs and maintenance was completed on the restaurant. Luckily enough though, they were able to quickly raise themselves out of their financial problem and continue running a great restaurant and make a steady profit.

​​In the June 20, 1984 Scribner Rustler, the headline read

Summarized by
​Amy Keltch  Class of 2018
Two young men make a daring rescue of women trapped on a car roof; Flood waters engulfs car moments after rescue
 
An Emerson woman probably owes her life to the daring rescue made by two Scribner young men. Those two young men were Dale Miller, and Mark Svec. The time was Saturday morning about 8:30 a.m. on the highway near the Scribner Alfalfa Mill. Pebble flood waters were just getting in high gear. There were Scribner firemen and volunteers at the alfalfa mill intersection watching the swift waters roll down the highway. A boat had just brought Mrs. Merlin Peterson from her nearby home. A driven by fern Fredrickson of Emerson, was caught by the flood current. The car began to spin and head for the east ditch. Immediately Dale Miller, and Mark Svec took the boat into the strong current and headed for the car, which was now nose-down into the ditch. Mrs. Fredrickson managed to climb out the back window and get on top of the car. Dale and Mark maneuvered the boat close to the car to make a daring rescue, Scribner firemen and volunteers assisted in getting the boat out of the swift current and to the safety of the railroad tracks. Moments after the rescue, the car was completely submerged by the flood waters. Mrs. Fredrickson was not injured but she did have a bad case of nerves for the time after the accident. She went to the Myron Groppe home to rest after the ordeal. She had been on her way to Blair to meet a son. From there they were going to Omaha, where a grandson was in the hospital. Relatives came and got Mrs. Fredrickson Sunday morning.
Another resident of Scribner who was involved with the flood of 1984 is Jim Ebel. When the 1984 flood had happened Jim, is one of the residents that witnessed it. He stated “bundles of post floated to the Eveland Cement Plant, a boat and trailer floated through town as well as chunks of wood.” The amount of damage was incredible. Years later they had found mud in the windows wells at the coop that was from the 1984 flood.  According to the Scribner utilities superintendent, Gordon Evert, “The amount of damage prevented by the levy is probably equal to the amount of damage done in the 1984 flood.” The corps of engineers estimated the cost of the damage in Scribner from the 1984 flood at $3.4 million dollars.
Jim also shared photos with the webpage class that Norbert Schullenberg took from the top of the Coop silo. These photos are shared here on the page.

Pictures taken by Jim Ebel, Norbert Schullenberg, and the Dahl family