Platte River Flood of 1978

Sunday, March 20, 1978
Valley, Nebraska - In groups of eight to ten people, they hurried to the waiting National Guard helicopters. Some carried cherished photos, a family heirloom, a blanket. Others carried the family pet, while a few had babies tightly wrapped to protect them from the gusts produced by the swirling blades. As each helicopter left, another one soon arrived until the evacuation of more than 300 stranded people was complete from the old three-story high school building.

It was thought to have been the worst flooding in possibly 40 years, although recollections were clouded by the calamity of the situation. Many, especially the younger generations, had never seen anything like it. Those evacuated at Valley High School were the last to leave from the 1,600 in that city who had been ordered to leave as the flood waters began to rise.

Since the beginning of the 1978 spring thaw, the Platte River in eastern Nebraska had seen continuous ice jams building up and then releasing. As portions of the ice, estimated to be up to 24” thick, were beginning to break loose in the areas further upstream, a 0.60 inch rain on frozen ground followed by an inch of snow that quickly melted created disaster.

The main jams were not caused by man-made barriers such as bridges, but rather nature’s own topography. Perhaps a sandbar or a split channel became the catalyst that caused too much ice to pass through an area not conducive to the unusual situation. One of the main jams occurred approximately two miles south of Valley. As more and more ice backed up, the water had no where to go except up or out. Other jams occurred near Ashland with the confluence of the Elkhorn causing that river to also leave its banks. Another jam estimated to be over a mile long was located north of Valley. Salt Creek coming from the west was at its limit. The entire area between Ashland at the south, and North Bend to the north, was under a severe flood warning.

Explosives technician Joe Ranney, owner of Joe Ranney & Son Company in Council Bluffs, Iowa, described the ice jams as “spectacular” because they were the worst he had seen in 25 years on the Platte River while in the business. Teams of flyers tossed 25-pound bags of dynamite from helicopters to create holes and loosen up the jams. Within two days they had dropped up to 30,000 pounds of explosives on the Platte. Damage estimates caused by flooding in the spring of 1978 exceeded $240 million.

Aerial image of an ice jam three-quarters of a mile wide on the Platte River south of Valley, Nebraska.
Photo Date: March 20, 1978 - Collection of Jerry Penry.

USGS quad sheet showing the location of the ice jam in Section 12, T15N, R9E.

Current aerial photo showing one of the 1978 ice jam locations.

Nearly the entire area from Yutan to Valley, Nebraska, was under water, causing major evacuations.

Floating chunks of ice, some as large as vehicles and being two feet thick, formed a natural dam and broke levees.

Spring thaws on the Platte have caused major damage to man-made bridges.
A portion of the Louisville, Nebraska, wagon bridge was taken out on February 16, 1907.

A portion of the Rock Island Railroad bridge at South Bend, Nebraska, was severely damaged
by ice flows on March 5, 1949, causing rail traffic to cease until the bridge could be repaired.
This bridge is now the Lied hiking and bike trail bridge.

Personal Testimony

Those who call the banks of the Platte River home know that each new spring could bring disaster. Below are the personal thoughts of Craig Johring, whose home is literally on the bank on the Platte near South Bend.

"I live right on the Platte River approximately 2 miles upstream from the Platte River Bridge (formerly the Rock Island Railroad bridge). My cabin is ground zero should an ice jam pile up in front of the Platte River Bridge. I’ve seen video of the ice jam that took place in 1982 that resulted in 17-inch thick sheets of ice taking out part of the cabin next door to mine. Every February/March when the ice on the Platte breaks up and the river flows without jamming up, I breath a sigh of relief. At that point I feel that I’ve been blessed with another year of enjoying the awesome beauty of living on the Platte River."

***** The information and photos for this story were researched and compiled by Jerry Penry of Lincoln, Nebraska. *****
March 2006