Flood Waters Close Roads Near Wahoo

By: Jenn Schanz
jschanz@klkntv.com 

Heavy rains in Wahoo led to serious flooding Thursday. Crews spent most of the day directing detour traffic and trying to clear roads.

“I decided to go check out how deep the flood water is, and so I decided to go pull the kayak out and go play,” says Phillip Nelson. He kayaked down the street Wahoo’s fairgrounds are on. 

“I was just thinking i didn’t know how high it would get,” says Jamie Lee, who practically had to swim over to her friends house. She said the water was above her waist. 

Luckily, officials say other than detours, there haven’t been any serious issues due to the overflow. Hwy 77 and Hwy 92 going into Wahoo are both closed, you can only get in from the north.

Emergency management says the Wanahoo dam, which was built a few years ago, played a large role in sustaining some of this water. They say the situation could have been worse.

“You don’t know what those roads, you don’t know what their conditions are underneath. They would be washed out or whatever and it’s hard to know where the road ends and where the ditch begins so you could be in pretty deep water in no time,” says Terry Miller, Emergency Manager for Saunders County. 

Creek water continued to rise until about around seven Thursday night.

Most of the roads in Wahoo are still usable, but the fairgrounds are nearly underwater.

Several fields and farm areas are also flooded . No word yet on how long roads will be closed.