By BRENT MARTIN

St. Joseph Post

Atchison County, which has taken the brunt of the flooding in northwest Missouri, is beginning the slow recovery process, even as residents worry about future flooding this spring.

A lot of recovery is ahead, according to North District County Commissioner Richard Burke.

“It’s a real disaster in Atchison County, especially from I-29 to the river,” according to Burke. “And that’s basically everything in the flood plain in Atchison County. That takes in 70,000 acres.”

Floodwaters have receded from Watson as well as Craig in neighboring Holt County.

“So those people are back in there cleaning up,” Burke says. “They just hope this doesn’t happen again. We’re fearful that there’s more water coming and these levees are already broken and they are not going to be fixed, probably within two years.”

South Atchison County Commissioner James Quimby says residents have come together to help in recovery.

“I think they’re holding up good, kind of coming together, helping each other to do what we can,” Quimby says.

Officials from Atchison and Holt Counties came together to form a joint disaster relief committee, which held a joint recovery/relief meeting in Rock Port Thursday. Local, state, and federal agencies provided information to flood victims and steered them toward programs which could help.

No one can predict what might come this spring as northern snowmelt enters the Missouri River system and spring rains begin. Private levees in Atchison County and Holt County sit broken, with repairs unlikely this year.