Governor, state officials size up damage, cost from floods

Gov. Pete Ricketts held a phone conference talking about conditions statewide.

“When two–thirds of our counties have been impacted, we can say with confidence that we’ve never had a weather disaster that’s been as big as this,” Ricketts said.

The Department of Transportation Director Kyle Schneweis said they’re making progress on getting roads opened again.

“At the peak of the flooding, we had 79 highways and approximately 1,568 miles of roadway closed,” Schneweis said.  “This morning that number was down to 540…and I’m told that number is continuing to come down.”

But he also said the amount of damage to the state highway system is going to be hundreds of millions of dollars.

Officials said considering how much of the state has been impacted by floods, it’s remarkable that there are only three known fatalities and one missing person.

Vice President Pence will be in Nebraska Tuesday.  He and the governor will survey the flooding damage.