By Katie Knapp Schubert
Omaha, NE – Another Omaha park is closed due to rising water on the Missouri River.
Omaha Parks and Recreation closed Freedom Park as flood waters inch closer to the riverfront. Omaha Public Works installed flood gates Sunday at Lewis and Clark Landing.
Parks Director Melinda Pearson anticipates the Landing will be underwater. "All the power's been cut, all the panels have been turned off, so it's designed for this. It's never been flooded before, so we'll see how well the design works, we anticipate that we'll have to do some cleaning out. But otherwise we expect it to do just what it was designed to do, which is keep the water out of the downtown."
Colonel Robert Ruch of the Army Corps of Engineers says more water will be released from Gavins Point Dam on the Nebraska-South Dakota border in the coming days. The Nebraska Emergency Management Agency has set up two public hotlines for information about flooding. Those numbers are 855-211-2453 and 2454.
The Missouri River is at its flood stage of 29 feet at Omaha, and rising. It's above flood stage from Plattsmouth to Rulo.