Flooding in Lincoln worsened on Thursday afternoon, with Salt Creek now eight feet over flood stage in Lincoln. Parking lots at Haymarket Park are now up to four feet underwater, and water is now not expected to recede until sometime Friday. The City of Lincoln has issued a voluntary evacuation order for much of the North and South Bottoms west of Memorial Stadium as the flooding situation worsens:
#LNK Map of area asked to voluntarily evacuate: pic.twitter.com/UDhQ3EE7sc
— Lincoln, Nebraska (@CityOfLincoln) May 7, 2015
With things looking worse instead of better, Nebraska has begun a frantic search for alternative locations to play this weekend's crucial baseball series against Purdue. Rain, flooding and state baseball districts have pretty much eliminated most other Lincoln sites, so the radius is expanding. Here are some of the locations under consideration:
- Werner Park, Gretna. Likely unavailable because minor league baseball games are scheduled all weekend long.
- TD Ameritrade Park, Omaha. Creighton has games scheduled on Saturday and Sunday afternoon. Parking and event planning could be difficult on Saturday and Sunday night due to Garth Brooks concerts scheduled on Saturday and Sunday night across the street at the CenturyLink Center.
- Millard North High School, Omaha. Has an artificial turf infield, much like Buck Beltzer Field had, which could make it playable despite the forecast for more rain this weekend. May be in high demand for the high school baseball districts.
- Westside High School, Omaha. All artificial turf field, but will have similar demand as the field at Millard North.
- Kansas State, Manhattan, KS. A serious proposal about 2 hours south of Lincoln, but the Wildcats are hosting Oklahoma this weekend.
- Kansas, Lawrence, KS. Unlikely due to similar issues with water.
- CommunityAmerica Ballpark, Kansas City, KS. Minor league ballpark that's hosting the MIAA tournament this weekend. Likely unavailable.
Other stadiums that have been mentioned are Lewis and Clark Park in Sioux City, IA or Duncan Field in Hastings
Hey @Dstad17 & @Husker_Baseball there's a field about 90 minutes to the west you could use. T.O has played here #GBR pic.twitter.com/Q3bHe81gqb
— Hastings Baseball (@DuncanField) May 7, 2015
Hawks Field hasn't been ruled out, but the longer Salt Creek stays out of it's banks, the less time the groundskeepers have to get the field drained and playable.