---
title: "‘It was a lost cause’ — dramatic photos show Offutt Air Force Base engulfed by floodwaters"
description: "It may be one of the most important Air Force installations in the continental United States, but Offutt Air Force Base has proven no match for the full fury of the Missouri River"
date: "2019-03-18"
modified: "2019-03-18"
authors:
  - name: "Jared Keller"
    job_title: "Former Managing Editor"
    link: "https://taskandpurpose.com/authors/jaredkeller.md"
url: "https://taskandpurpose.com/news/offutt-air-force-base-flooding/"
categories:
  - "Air Force"
  - "Around the World"
  - "Military Branches"
  - "News"
  - "United States"
tags:
  - "Northern Command"
---

# ‘It was a lost cause’ — dramatic photos show Offutt Air Force Base engulfed by floodwaters

![](<https://taskandpurpose.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/19282457-1.jpg>)

It may be one of the most important Air Force installations in the continental United States, but Offutt Air Force Base has proven no match for the full fury of the Missouri River.

As record flooding
[swept](<https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/16/us/nebraska-flooding.html>) through towns across the Midwest, floodwaters had swallowed at least thirty buildings at Offutt as of Sunday and damaged another 30, the 55th Wing [announced](<https://www.offutt.af.mil/News/Article/1787242/team-offutt-battling-flood-waters/>), including the headquarters of the 55th Wing, 55th Security Forces Squadron, 97th Intelligence Squadron, and 343rd Reconnaissance Squadron

And while the 55th Wing said that Air Force personnel worked round-the-clock to shore up facilities with 235,000 sandbags and 460 flood barriers "to minimize damage as much as possible," floodwaters were so intense that they eventually abandoned a frantic sandbagging effort.

"It was a lost cause" 55th Wing spokeswoman Tech. Sgt. Rachelle Blake
[told](<https://www.omaha.com/news/military/it-was-a-lost-cause-air-force-gives-up-fight/article_631f9b34-5271-50e8-b5eb-19f488daaf32.html>) the Omaha World-Herald. "We gave up."

The full extent of the damage is currently unknown, but it's worth noting that Offutt is home of U.S. Strategic Command, which oversees the Pentagon's nuclear strategic deterrence and global strike capabilities — and [opened](<https://www.omaha.com/news/military/it-s-a-national-asset-a-first-look-inside-stratcom/article_2487c759-9af6-5b5f-ac48-5b3a00014bb1.html>) a brand-new $1.3 billion command and control facility at the air base in January.

Below, dramatic photos capture the flooding at Offutt:

![](<https://taskandpurpose.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/image-placeholder-title-4563.jpg>)

(U.S. Air Force photo)

[(Twitter/U.S. Strategic Command)](<https://twitter.com/US_Stratcom/status/1107349499402424320/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%255Etfw%257Ctwcamp%255Etweetembed%257Ctwterm%255E1107349499402424320&ref_url=http%253A%252F%252Fwww.thedrive.com%252Fthe-war-zone%252F26991%252Fhome-of-strategic-command-and-some-of-usafs-most-prized-aircraft-is-flooding>)

[(Facebook/55th Wing Commander)](<https://www.facebook.com/55.WG.Commander/?tn-str=k*F>)

[(Facebook/55th Wing Commander)](<https://www.facebook.com/55.WG.Commander/?tn-str=k*F>)

[(Facebook/55th Wing Commander)](<https://www.facebook.com/55.WG.Commander/?tn-str=k%252AF>)

[(Facebook/55th Wing Commander)](<https://www.facebook.com/55.WG.Commander/?tn-str=k*F>)

[(Facebook/55th Wing Commander)](<https://www.facebook.com/55.WG.Commander/?tn-str=k*F>)

[(Facebook/55th Wing Commander)](<https://www.facebook.com/55.WG.Commander/?tn-str=k*F>)

[(Facebook/55th Wing Commander)](<https://www.facebook.com/55.WG.Commander/>)

[(Facebook/55th Wing Commander)](<https://www.facebook.com/55.WG.Commander/>)

### SEE ALSO: Satellite Photos Show Parts Of Tyndall Air Force Base Have Been Completely Decimated

### WATCH NEXT: Here's What Hurricane Michael Did to Tyndall Air Force Base

## Author
Jared Keller is the former managing editor of Task & Purpose. His writing has appeared in Aeon, the Los Angeles Review of Books, the New Republic, Pacific Standard, Smithsonian, and The Washington Post, among other publications.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://twitter.com/jaredbkeller>)  
[Facebook](<https://www.facebook.com/jaredbkeller>)  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaredbkeller/>)  
[Instagram](<https://www.instagram.com/jaredbkelller/>)

## More

- [We salute the retired Air Force officer who commandeered a limo to save historical artifacts as floodwaters engulfed Offutt AFB](<https://taskandpurpose.com/news/55th-wing-history-offutt-flooding.md>)
- [Air Force identifies airman found dead along with his wife near Offutt Air Force Base](<https://taskandpurpose.com/news/offutt-airman-identified.md>)
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