Flooding along the Missouri River from May through August 2011 caused major damage in several states. Shown here is the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Generating Station in Nebraska surrounded by water in June 2011. Photo by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

The Omaha Tribe thanked the Obama administration for approving a long-standing request for additional disaster assistance.

The tribe was hit hard by flooding along the Missouri River from May through August of 2011. Record-high levels of water were released by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, leading to the evacuation of homes on the Nebraska side of the reservation and causing extensive damage to a gaming facility on the Iowa side.

Nearly five year later, the tribe will be able to reduce the financial burden imposed by the disaster. President Barack Obama on Wednesday amended two orders, one for Nebraska and another for Iowa, that require the federal government to share more of the costs incurred on the reservation.

“The flood of 2011 was a man-made disaster caused by the Army Corp of Engineers," Chairman Vernon Miller said in a press release. "We are pleased the federal government chose to be part of the solution and is illustrative of the excellent relationship our tribe has enjoyed with the Obama administration.”

Miller told the Associated Press that rebuilding cost about $12 million. Now that the federal government has increased the cost share from 75 percent to 90 percent, the tribe can recover another $2.4 million, he said.

Get the Story:
Obama raises 2011 flood recovery funding for Omaha Tribe (AP 4/20)
Omaha Tribe receives 15 percent boost in federal aid for 2011 flood (The Sioux City Journal 4/20)