The department hasn’t had time yet to calculate the hours crews worked to reclaim the plant.

One reason for the long hours: Much of the plant’s equipment is being operated manually until new cables and computers can be installed.

“You figure out real quickly how much work automation saves,” Sykora said.

About half of the plant remains under construction. The administration building and operations center still need to be finished. Equipment with temporary fixes needs to be replaced. The department expects to finish that work in six to eight months.

The final tab and who pays won’t be known for some time. The Federal Emergency Management Agency typically pays 75 percent of public damage claims. The state picks up about 12.5 percent, and the city and its private insurer pick up the rest.

Workers are running the plant in construction trailers on the property. They’re putting up a new fence to slow down looters.

But off the east end of the property, you can still see the remnants of the flood, water on once-dry land that looks like the nearby Papillion Creek.