Nebraska farmers and ranchers are in the process of putting their lives back together as damage totals continue to climb after the worst disaster in the state’s history. It looks like a war zone at Willard Ruzicka’s ranch near Veridgre after the 91-year-old Spencer dam broke on the Niobrara River and left a path of destruction.

It wasn’t just the water, but the ice that swept away buildings, 500 bales of hay and all but one bin of corn on his ranch.

Those massive ice chunks still line the river by his ranch, piled up several feet in the tree lines. Yet amazingly most of his cattle herd survived.

Now neighbors he doesn’t even know are providing feed through a hay drive and others are helping take care of his herd.

Ruzicka will need feed again later this year as his cropland was also flooded and now just a field of ice remains. Neighbors are helping with the cleanup though and giving him the strength to go on. He says his grandson is the sixth generation and so he is going to try to rebuild.