Premium ContentMouse over Home then click on Premium Content for information.Area rivers have disgorged their load of ice, reports Rich Tesar, a longtime outfitter and public official, so this year's risk of ice jam flooding in eastern Nebraska should be over.
Tesar said he's rarely seen a winter like this, in which the ice breaks free in the main channels of the Platte and Elkhorn Rivers by Feb. 1.
A member of the Papio-Missouri River Natural Resources District, Tesar said the ice in the Platte River near Union Dike broke free just before midnight on Jan. 31.
Here's the description he provided in a periodic group email that he sends to interested people:
"Everything changed around 11:00 p.m. last night when the main channel ice along Union Dike finally gave way and started moving downstream. What a thrill it is to see and hear the main channel ice start moving in mass. The power this river ice has is awesome as it pushes downed trees in the channel like toothpicks.
"In an hour the ice had moved down to the Sokol Camp area, south of Valley, causing the river to raise in the area over 2 feet.
"Once the river ice started moving there was no stopping it..."
The Platte now is in good shape for runoff from the massive storm that will begin moving across the state Thursday night.
"One can still expect some water fluctuations until all the ice has moved out in the Platte," Tesar wrote, "but as for now I would have to think the worst is past us."
To sign up for Tesar's periodic updates, email him at: DAILY_RIVER_REPORT@msn.com.
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