DODGE COUNTY, Neb. (KMTV) - — Flooding is already starting to affect people in Dodge County.
Thursday, several people in the community of Ames, Nebraska, evacuated their homes due to flooding on the only road that lets people in or out.
The scene was all too familiar for Susan Larson, she’s lived in the area for several years.
"I got helicoptered out by a friend of mine last year because we had no heat, we had no water, we had no power, we had nothing," Larson said.
Larson didn’t waste any time getting out of her home when Dodge County Officials issued a voluntary evacuation warning for the area.
"At 12:30 they're like it's over the road and then they said we're going to evacuate and so I said it's time, we need to leave,” Larson said.
Dodge County Sheriff’s Deputy Brie Frank says ice jams on the Platte River caused water to overflow onto the road near the Timberwood Subdivision, south of Highway 30.
"The water previous to today was flowing into Rod and Gun Club and then to County Road 19 and then back into the river basically from there,” Frank said. “So the ice jam is just diverting it a little bit differently."
Frank tells 3 News Now there are about 28 homes in the area.
She says people living in about five those homes chose to leave, but some sheltered in place.
"Last year is way too fresh on people's minds unfortunately,” Frank said. “So there is that heightened sense of, OK let's make sure that we know where the water's going and have plans and evacuation plans if needed and that's kind of what happened today."
Crews are using a tool attached to a helicopter to break the ice.
A local construction company is working to shore up the road.
Deputy Frank also says, the levees are in good shape.
"The levees are still holding,” she said. “There's been no levee breaches at this point [and] in the river water is always rapidly changing so it’s just diverting differently at this point."
Larson tells 3 News Now, she’ll stay in Columbus until the road clears.
"I appreciate the sheriff's department and the Fremont volunteer fire department who got us on a big vehicle and we went through the rushing water,” Larson said.
The flooded road into the Timberwood neighborhood will remain closed until the water clears.
