Central Omaha families begin the cleanup after flash flooding severely damages homes near 60th and L

OMAHA, Neb. — Families near 60th and L Street in central Omaha are cleaning up after flash flooding severely damaged their homes, with residents describing the loss of irreplaceable belongings and the chaos of escaping rapidly rising water.

Regan Copeland said the flooding moved with alarming speed. "Honestly, within, like, seven minutes, it was completely gone." Copeland said.

Copeland said she lost family keepsakes she described as irreplaceable. "It's irreplaceable things, like the cedar chest my mom's had since she was 16 years old. My baby book is in there, my deceased dad's baby book's is in there, my brother's baby book." Copeland said.

Copeland is also processing having to get her 2 young children and her mother out of the home during the flooding. She said she found herself reliving it.

"The scaredness in my son. The look in my mom's face. Screaming back and forth to each other, like, just pure panic." Copeland said.

Across the street, Linda Smith is dealing with similar devastation. Smith's basement is now full of water, and a wall collapsed, leaving a hole in her yard.

Smith said she lost everything she had collected over 50 years.

"When you've lost everything. Everything I've collected for the last 50 years, vintage Christmas stuff that I've collected, everything's gone. My craft room was downstairs. All my supplies, my new sewing machine, it's all gone." Smith said.

Smith described the moment the flooding began. "I heard this huge crashing noise, and I jumped out of bed and opened the door to the basement and the water was pouring, and was almost to the top of the steps." Smith said.

When asked how it felt to look at her house, Smith said she is leaning on family as she faces the road ahead.

"About ready to go crazy. Know we have so much ahead of us. But I know I got my kids. I don't know what we're gonna do, but we'll get through it with my kids' help." Smith said.

Both Copeland and Smith said they are taking it day by day.

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