Fremont flooding evacuations hit close to home for a Lincoln woman

A Lincoln woman has family currently stranded in Fremont.

The flooding has gotten even worse in recent days, forcing mandatory evacuations.

The evacuations were ordered for the city of Fremont early on Friday following a broken levee on the Platte River.

The night before they were ordered, Lincoln woman Madison Beyer says she knew something was wrong when she received a late night call from her father, Al Bell.

“He was like, ‘we have to get out of here, right now.’ It was starting to flood like crazy, like flash floods and he told my mom, ‘pack your bags, we’re going right now’ and they got in the car and they started driving and water was rushing over the road as they were driving… They got out last minute,” said Beyer.

Beyer’s parents, Al and Jayne Bell, fled to her aunt’s house in a dryer part of the city.

Al told her that in a matter of hours, the house was took on multiple feet of water.

“It was just rushing over. He said he walked outside, shined like a spotlight, and it looked like it was a lake, or river because it was just running as fast as it could toward the Fremont area,” said Beyer.

The next day, Beyer’s parents headed back to the house to see how bad the damage was.

Their basement was completely flooded in chest deep water.

They also found nine of their 12 chickens drowned in the yard.

Al had to use a canoe to get around because the water was so deep.

Beyer says she got a call on Friday from her father in tears.

He said the foundation of the house was ruined.

Their family home, one of many, claimed by the historic flooding.

“They’ve just lost absolutely everything, insurance doesn’t cover anything, not even a penny. They have no money, they are just at a loss and at this point, they are considering that their house is just completely gone,” said Beyer.

“The pain and just the memories that are destroyed. Everything in that house that I grew up in, and they grew up in raising us, and all of that is just gone,” said Beyer.

To make matters worse, the water is continuing to rise.

Beyer’s mom, dad and aunt are still all stranded.

On Saturday, water levels rose by an additional three feet.

Beyer’s parents are no longer able to visit their home. It’s too dangerous to try.

She says it’s starting to look like they may have to be rescued by a helicopter.

“To listen to my own dad cry about what he’s looking at. He said, out of his window he sees blackhawk helicopters flying around all the time and there’s people being rescued in my hometown from their homes out of a helicopter,” said Beyer.

Beyer has created a GoFundMe page for her parents.

Over $2,000 dollars have been raised so far.

Beyer says the reality of the situation is starting to set in for them, and anything helps.

“My family is just one of how many that this is affecting in all of Nebraska, let alone Fremont… It’s a tragedy.”

If you are interested in donating to the family, head to this link: www.gofundme.com/bell-family-flood-damage-donation.