
Concerns continue to brew in Atchison County Mo. as releases start to peak at the Gavins Point dam on the Missouri River.
Rumors continue to circulate, however officials made it clear Monday afternoon, no major breaches to levee’s in the county have occured.
Two small breaches happened over the weekend where the levee dropped down because of erosion. Those have since been fixed by volunteers and the Army Corps of Engineers, Atchison County Commissioner Curt Livengood said. There was a third small concern that was also addressed.
The County is prepping the water-treatment plant that serves rural Atchison County and Rockport. They are making a levee around the plant to prevent it from being flooded if the waters reach the plant at the intersection of Interstate 29 and U.S. Highway 136. The work started last tuesday, Rockport Police Chief Curtis Elam said.
“My job is to protect this water-plant and some people say it was overkill, and if it was, then I’m sorry,” Elam said. “I couldn’t imagine three months or longer until the water went down and the water-plant was not functional until then.”
Prisoners from Maryville are helping place sandbags on the levee’s and will help around the water-treatment plant near Rockport this week, Atchison County Emergency Management Director Rhonda Wiley said.
“The heat is a very big concern,” Wiley said. “Everybody is pitching in and helping us with hydration as well as food (for the volunteers).”
Voluntary evacuations have been issued for an area in Atchison County West of the interstate to the Missouri River.
“We would like to see them getting their personal belongings out of their home,” Livengood said. “It’s hard for us to patrol all their houses so we don’t want them to leave their houses if they don’t have too.”
Most people are evacuating south of U.S. Highway 136. Some north of the highway are getting prepared but are not ecavuating because the waters did not reach them in 1993. Around 60 homes or less are evacuating at this time, Livengood said.

There is a likely hood that Interstate 29 could become over-topped with water. That would close the interstate, Livengood said. Road closure information can be found by clicking the picture to the left.
The financial strain on the county has yet to be seen, eight days into the preparations, Livengood said.
“Luckily we have had some growth in the last few years and that has helped us,” he said. “If it gets to the point where they close I-29 North and I-29 South, that intersection of 136 and I-29, which is where a lot of our revenue comes from, it will hurt.”