Time to Monitor Flood Risk, Farm Equipment Theft, Crane Cam & Nebraska Revenue falls

Posted: 09 March, 2010

An extensive area of deep snow pack and high water content (in excess of 3 inches) over Iowa, southern Minnesota, southwest Wisconsin, eastern Nebraska, and the eastern Dakotas make for good chances of spring floods in those areas, according to Al Dutcher, University of Nebraska Extension State Climatologist.  "These same areas received 200 to 400 percent of normal moisture last October, leading to saturated surface conditions," he said.

As for flood risk, there is little, if any, wiggle room. "The first issue is how to get ice moved downstream with minimal impact from ice jams," Dutcher said. "Second, will a short intense warm spell, possibly accompanied by rain, materialize that could release much of the water over a couple day time span? After the snow disappears, how extensive will spring planting delays become with just normal rainfall?" The last time such a large portion of the western and central Corn Belt faced such a significant flood risk going into the early spring was 1993.

As of this morning, the Elkhorn River at West Point was measured at 11.22 feet. It is currently predicted to crest half a foot below flood stage during the day tomorrow.

Farm Equipment Theft

The FBI says two men have been charged with the theft of large farm equipment from five states, including Nebraska. Thirty-1-year-old Matthew T. Jones and 32-year-old Ryan R. Hanzlick were arrested as part of an investigation into thefts from Wyoming, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Kansas and Colorado. The FBI says the two men were indicted last week. Hanzlick was arrested in Hayes Center, Neb., and Jones in Colby, Kan. Jones and Hanzlick are each charged with 12 counts for interstate commerce of merchandise valued at $5,000 or more. The indictment alleges the men knew the equipment had been stolen or taken by fraud. According to the indictment, the thefts occurred between November 2005 and April 2008.

 
Crane Cam
 
The Rowe Sanctuary has set up its crane cam so people can use the Web to watch some of the thousands of sandhill cranes resting in Nebraska before continuing north.  The video site can be found on the sanctuary Web site, www.rowesanctuary.org.

 
Nebraska Revenue falls
 
Nebraska state government’s overall revenue fell more than 2 percent below projections in February because of lagging sales and income taxes.  The state Department of Revenue says the state collected $5 million less than the official projection that state budget is based on.
 

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