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Abstract: 

The Missouri River flooded 6.8 million acres of land in 2011 and threatened a significantly wider area. This paper explores the fiscal issues related to disaster management in three governments: the Omaha Airport Authority, the Omaha Public Power District, and the City of Omaha. The economic interdependencies of these three entities, the location of critical facilities and infrastructure, and the months-long nature of the flooding event make this a useful case study to expand our understanding of financial risks and disaster management across varying types of governments that function interdependently within a critical infrastructure as a “balky system.” Although disaster was averted, the costs were high, and the case illustrates the substantial overlapping risk among these three jurisdictions.

Keywords: Missouri River flood, disaster management, balky system, Omaha, OAA, OPPD

Affiliations:  1: University of Nebraska at Omaha School of Public Administration; 2: University of Nebraska at Omaha School of Public Administration; 3: University of Nebraska at Omaha School of Public Administration.