In March 2019, Winslow, Nebraska experienced extreme flooding due to its close proximity to the Elkhorn River. As of August 2019, a majority of the town’s homes have too much water damage to live in. Because of the village's history of flooding and their juxtaposition to the Elkhorn River, the members still occupying the town are in the middle of deciding whether or not they want to stay or go. If they stay, they risk future flooding but get to maintain the origins of the villages' location. If they go, they will be able to avoid future flooding but lose the sense of history within the town that so many of its village members value.
Photo story by Elsie Stormberg/Omaha World-Herald
Winslow resident Nilene Parker looks at her flood-damaged home on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2019, in Winslow, Nebraska. Parker had only been living in Winslow for a year and a half when the March 2019 flooding destroyed her home.
The Winslow water tower is framed by debris from Nilene Parker's home on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2019, in Winslow, Nebraska.
Roughly five miles away, Hooper's water tower can be seen from inside Nilene Parker's home in Winslow, Nebraska on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2019. Many Winslow residents like Parker took refuge in Hooper after the March flooding.
Winslow resident Rick Addink stands inside his garage on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2019, in Winslow, Nebraska. In the March floodings, Addink experienced about five feet of water in his garage.
A limited entry sign is placed outside a home in Winslow, Nebraska on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2019. A majority of the buildings in Winslow had limited entry signs similar to this.
Winslow resident Ralph Weatherly walks down the stairs into his basement on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2019, in Winslow, Nebraska. Weatherly's basement was completely flooded with the waters reaching up about three feet up into the main floor of his home.
Ralph Weatherly lifts the curtain to his former living room, now bedroom on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2019, in Winslow, Nebraska. Weatherly had roughly three feet of water in his home during the March 2019 flooding.
Debris from Nilene Parker's home sticks out of a U-Fill-It box on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2019, in Winslow, Nebraska. By the end of the day, Parker and a neighbor filled this box to the brim with debris from inside her home.
Members of the Winslow community meet at Winslow's fire station to discuss the state of its village on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2019, in Winslow, Nebraska. In this meeting, the village members were asked to fill out documents stating whether or not they would like to stay in Winslow.
Weeds and long grass overtake Winslow's village office on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2019, in Winslow, Nebraska. Due to flood damage, the building is no longer in use, like many of the other buildings in the village.
Winslow resident Ed Nelson waits for a village meeting to begin inside Winslow's fire station on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2019, in Winslow, Nebraska. "We ain't going nowhere," Nelson said to the Omaha World-Herald after the meeting, shaking his head.