By BRENT MARTIN

St. Joseph Post

Northwest Missouri and northeast Kansas residents are being urged to take seriously flood warnings issued by the National Weather Service.

Buchanan County Emergency Management Director Bill Brinton worries about how well the federal and farm levee system will hold.

“The problem around this area has always been the farm levee the past few years,” according to Brinton. “And so, we just have to monitor and make sure because this is going to be a pretty major flood stage down near Atchison. So, we just have to keep an eye on it.”

Area motorists are being warned to not cross floodwaters.

The National Weather Service forecasts the Missouri River to reach its official flood stage of 17 feet this morning, rising to nearly 30 feet by early next week. The Platte River is already out of its banks.

Brinton says too many motorists ignore the barricades erected in front of flooded roads. He says it doesn’t take much floodwater to take over control of a vehicle.

“Don’t drive around our barricades and if you see any standing water, please don’t drive off into it, because it is very dangerous and it is pretty simple, especially this time of year when it is so cold and there is ice on the Missouri River, still ice on the Platte River, your survival time is really cut to a minimum,” Brinton says.

Brinton wants motorists to respect floodwaters and not cross them. Brinton says some motorists have ignored barricades erected after flooding along the Platte River covered roadways.

“It happens all the time in the county,” Brinton says. “Where we have our county barricades on the Platte River, on the different roads that are closed, people drive around them all the time.”