OMAHA, NE. — Ron Dubas, a lifelong Omaha resident, says five-foot-high floodwaters swept his car from the driveway into the street and left the basement covered in mud.
Heavy rains sent floodwaters surging through an Aksarben neighborhood near 69th and Mason in Omaha, along with other portions of the metro.
Dubas said the water reached about the middle of the car's passenger side window — and was powerful enough to sweep Dubas' car out into the street.
"I've had it about five years," Ron Dubas said about his car, which was later towed away. "All you see is about four or five feet of water. I couldn't believe it myself."
The flooding left the neighborhood muddy and damaged.
Inside his home, thick, dark mud coated the basement floor.
"See the water line?" Dubas said. "This was all a bathtub of water."
Next door to Dubas' house, a neighbor's basement wall collapsed and is now patched up with bricks, duct tape and two blue tarps.
"It's pretty amazing what nature can do," Dubas said.
Despite the destruction, Dubas said he counts himself among the fortunate.
"(I'm) feeling kind of lucky. I'm sure a lot of people are feeling that way right now," Dubas said. "The next day felt so peaceful and serene, but yet the devastation showed its true colors."
His message to those in Omaha going through the same: "Never give up."
"Life brings you down; help one another. Try what you can," Dubas said tearfully. "We are all one people. This is living proof — I'm living proof."
