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Missouri River flooding threatens Interstate 29 near Omaha

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September 18th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The rising Missouri River broke through two levees northeast of Omaha, but the flooding affected rural areas that have been flooded twice before this year.

Interstate 29 remained open near Omaha Wednesday afternoon, but transportation officials warned that parts of the highway will likely have to close overnight. Several on-ramps were closed Wednesday. The lower Missouri River is flooding in Nebraska and Iowa this week because exceptionally heavy rains fell last week in Montana, North and South Dakota and Nebraska.

Officials don’t expect the floodwaters to cause significant damage to communities. But many levees remain damaged from severe flooding in the spring, allowing the floodwaters to flow into many farm fields and rural areas.