North Bend still recovering after historic flooding

Close to four months ago practically the whole town of North Bend was under water. 

Thanks to the help and volunteers in the community, they’re on their way to recovery. 

Now, in late June their roads are dusty, but dry, and buildings are being repaired. 

“You look around and the town looks kind of normal but you take a little bit closer look and you can see the effects of the 2019 flooding,” Nathan Arneal, president of the Chamber of Commerce, said. 

Arneal said the days blended together. People were working around the clock to help salvage what they could. There were no church services or events in the community for weeks. 

“We had a recovery committee that met at least once a day, sometimes twice a day to keep everybody on the same page and updated. It was pretty amazing to see everybody come together,” Arneal said.

Arneal also works at the North Bend Eagle. The newspaper property was severely damaged. They had to get new carpet and drywall.

Just a few doors down from the newspaper the only pharmacy in North Bend was nearly destroyed. 

“The damage was to the floor, the shelving units and a little bit of merchandise,” Mitch Staiger, a pharmacist, said. 

Staiger found way to make his business work through the whole mess, finding a temporary fix for every aspect of his pharmacy. 

Staiger took this hard hit and made it into a positive situation by updating the whole pharmacy. 

The community is still heavily relying on each other, whether it’s through donations, clean up or renovations. 

“We’ve had a fire here, tornadoes and stuff like that, but this effected the entire town, so everybody has a flood story,” Arneal said. 

If you would like to help North Bend with flood recovery efforts, visit http://fpclincoln.org/donate/?fbclid=IwAR2264wM5uvzwVBM5zORnRcl9Z4zE0Eu5eY6NmFuJG_ON3T0Wf9JbcDXA2o