The road Timberwood residents use to get to their housing area just east
of Ames was flooded as a result of ice jams on the Platte River
Thursday [Feb. 20, 2019]. The water was gone after a couple of days.

Ames sees minor flooding from ice jam

by Mary Le Arneal
Published 2/26/20

With the year anniversary of the 2019 flood approaching, locals are keeping a wary eye on the
Platte River.

While North Bend has been spared of any flooding so far this year, areas of Fremont and Inglewood about 15 miles downstream of North Bend have seen flooding in recent weeks. Last week water was causing problems a little farther west, where the Timberwood lake development along the river just southeast of Ames was partially evacuated.

Marla Brabec was out with a friend Thursday when her husband called to say there was water over the road to their home in Timberwood.

Soon the Fremont Rural Fire Department was on the scene encouraging voluntary evacuation, so Brabec went to stay with her daughter in Fremont.

By 8:30 p.m. Thursday evening, the water had receded so that Brabec was able to return home, and
there she stayed.

“Our house was not threatened,” Brabec said. “Just the road was inaccessible. Those who did
leave had health problems and were concerned if they lost electricity. We thought it can’t be that
bad, but the river can be fickle.”

The water came from the Ames Cutoff Ditch west of Timberwood. It backed up and flowed
from the ditch into Meadow Lake which is on the north side of Timberwood, crossing over the
road into the Timberwood homes to do so.

During last year’s flood the road into Timberwood was completely washed out. A large culvert
was installed when the road was fixed, but Timberwood resident Judy Getzschman said the
new culvert still could not handle the overflow. She said on Friday, Hexagon Helicopters were out
Spring is when you feel like whistling even with a shoe full of slush.

Ames sees minor fl ooding fr om ice jamFlooding 2020 over the river to break up the ice by dropping a heavy weight on the ice causing it to crack. There is a video on the Hexagon Helicopters website of the ice being broken up.

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