Thinking back on some of the national news events that I remember growing up, I pause to ask myself if they were as memorable as asking someone in their early 60s when and where they were when President Kennedy was shot. Some were. Take for example when the Challenger went up in flames, or Desert Storm, or more recently the tsunami in Japan; and of course 9-11 and our first (half) black president.

Those are events that occurred nationally and/or internationally that will be engrained in my memory for decades (maybe years as my memory isn’t that great). But on a local level, I wonder if the “Great Nebraska flood of 2011” will be one of those events.

I posted back in May when the flood waters first started to rise. Back then, we had no idea what kind of impact that would have on farmers in the affected areas. However, Nebraska Farm Bureau just commissioned a study that shows, “The spring flooding along the Missouri River cost Nebraska nearly $189 million in lost agricultural crop sales and related economic activity. $105.8 million of the total is lost crop sales experienced by farmers; the remainder is the economic activity indirectly lost in these areas that did not occur because of the crop losses, such as processing, marketing and distribution or the purchases of agricultural equipment that won’t occur.”

Highway 136 running east into Rockport finally opened after more than six months of being underwater, but the damage is still very evident. Ponds have sprung up in fields, crevices more than 8-feet deep line the highways and pivot irrigation is still stuck in the mud. This photo shows a home just set back from the highway. Notice the muddy water line just below the window sill and the new front yard featuring mud, silt and debris.

I was happy that my quickest route to Kansas City had reopened but my heart went out to the farmers who were affected by this event.

Until we walk again …