​A Perspective of the 2019 Flood: Scribner’s City Manager

Article by Peyton Wolford Class of 2020
Elmer Armstrong is the current Scribner city manager, he coordinates with the civil defense. The civil defense works with the fire/rescue department, utilities, and reports to the mayor about emergency issues. Armstrong also works with FEMA.
The toughest part about the flood for Armstrong, as a city employee, was working with FEMA. Armstrong had to wait until FEMA declared the flood as a disaster. After this occurred he worked a lot of hours to help set up protective measures, fixing things, and make sure that the town was safe. On a personal note, his own home was a few miles out of town which made getting to work difficult during this time.
One of the many things that happen during any event or disaster that occur are the lessons you learn from them. One thing Armstrong took away from this experience is that he needed to get a part time assistant to help him with paperwork with paperwork. Other things are the increase in funds they need so they can repair the dike and get debris removed for example.
When asked about what positives found during the flood he stated that the communication between the city, fire department, and volunteers was excellent. He also stated that afterwards the city was used as a great example of properly maintaining a dike by the Corps of Engineers.
The main costs come from the repairs to the dike and the debris totally over $100,000. The projects that have come from this event will be spanning for probably 2+ years from now just to finish them. Financially Scribner’s main cost will be cleaning up debris on the dike. The bids for the work were put out and a company from dodge was awarded the contracts.
Armstrong has been one of the leading helpers dealing with the aftermath of this flood. By Armstrong dealing with this disaster and being able to work with others. This helps by giving the town of Scribner a good sense of what Armstrong is able to accomplish if problems like these arise again.

​Dodge County Flood Article “Lumpy” Kenny Thomas

Article by Laythen Streit Class of 2020
The 2019 flood was one to remember, for all of the wrong reasons for most people. Last spring brought a severe flood to our doorsteps, literally and figuratively. Thankfully, we had our dike there to protect our town from the roaring current of the Elkhorn River.
Emergency services all across Nebraska were pitching in somehow, whether it was performing rescues, or smaller jobs like filling sandbags and repairing any possible damage during, and after the flood.
Our “Mayor”, Kenny Thomas, or as he likes to be called, Lumpy dealt with the flood on a more technical level. While he did help during the flood, most of his work as mayor came with the post flood. Lumpy had to deal with organizations like FEMA, NEMA, and The Department of Roads.
“We’ve had several meetings with those companies about the damage of the flood, we also executive discussion with the city as well about the damage.” Mayor Kenny Thomas said.
Lumpy was relatively lucky when it came to the flood, It had no personal effect on him in any way, shape, or form. However, damage from the flood still has lingering affects on not only Scribner, but also surrounding communities. They are still having problems with debris, and destroyed property on their ends.
“I wasn’t really affected by the flood personally, I was really lucky during the flood.”
Time is ticking for the repairs and reinforcements though, as winter nears, so does literal “solid” ground. Work that requires equipment like shovels becomes a daunting task when the ground itself is feeling the effects of freezing temperatures.
The cold has negative effects on automated equipment, engines are more often than not to cold to even start, and with the fall of snow, it would be dangerous to tread on unstable ground, especially when you are driving a 3 ton working machine.
The repair crews hired are working as hard and as fast as they can to prepare and strengthen our dike for the possibility of another flood this spring. Let us hope that Mother Nature will be more forgiving this coming spring.