Unlike neighbors, Chase Co. survives major flood damage

    Constant rains in the area and a deluge last week in counties to the south and east have made southwest Nebraskans a little weary of the weather.
    While Chase County has survived without major damage, Dundy, Hayes and Hitchcock counties haven’t been as fortunate.
    Chase County Emergency Manager Duane Dreiling said the rain that’s fallen here has caused some road issues, mainly on a section of Avenue 333 south of Imperial which is closed.
    “And it will be closed for awhile,” he said.
    Water washed away a section of that road north of the Frenchman River at Road 733 north to 736, leading officials to close it last Friday.
    Chase County was spared a lot of damage at this point. However, another National Weather Service alert for the county was issued Tuesday night and there are 30-60% chances of rain here every day until Monday.
    Rain came much heavier the past week east of Imperial.
In Palisade, Southwest Public Power District shut off power to a line north of the village as group of people were rescued from the flooding.
Unofficial rain totals from National Weather Service reports show 12 inches fell three miles north of Palisade between 7 a.m. CT  last Thursday to 7 a.m,. Friday.
Waters tore through Krotter Park in Palisade inundating the ball park and swimming pool. Clean-up efforts began earlier this week and will continue to get the park restored.
Palisade’s Pioneer Days are scheduled for June 8-11.
The village’s tree dump is also closed due to flood damage.
Staff at Enders Lake Recreation Area were preparing for the first big three-day weekend of the summer when the rains came last Thursday.
Beau Licking, Enders Lake Recreation Area superintendent, said the rain cut their visitor numbers in half compared to last year.
He estimates there were 1,000 visitors over the weekend, while about 2,000 were at the lake in 2022 over Memorial Day weekend.
The rain caused wash-outs at all of the beaches and a good number of the roads, he said. However, the campgrounds were all usable, even the primitive areas if campers wanted to deal with the mud.
“Most campers stayed out of those areas though,” he said.
Staff is now mowing and continuing clean-up in anticipation of the June 10 Enders Extravaganza at ELRA.
Wauneta Village Clerk Evelyn Skelton said there were no issues in their community. City officials closed the road to the grass pile a couple days over the weekend due to mud, but it has reopened, she said.
The NWS recorded 6.49 inches of rain, 6.5 miles south of Wauneta, while Imperial’s recorder 7.6 miles south of town measured 4.2 inches in the Thursday to Friday. 7 a.m. to 7 a.m. time frame.