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Congressman Graves calls for changes in Corps management of Missouri in midst of historic flooding

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By BRENT MARTIN

St. Joseph Post

Gavins Point Dam/U.S. Army Corps of Engineers photo

Congressman Sam Graves wants to see a change in how the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers manages the Missouri River.

Graves says the Corps has placed too much emphasis on recreation and habitat reclamation and too little on flood control. Still, Graves doesn’t entirely place the blame for this year’s flooding on the Corps.

“How much can we blame the Corps?” Graves asks. “I think the Corps has some issues, again, with management of the river. I think they are partially to blame for this. It was also the fact that we had some heavy rain and we had a lot of snowmelt that happened very, very quickly. There’s plenty of blame to go around, whether that’s Mother Nature or the Corps.”

Graves says the Corps needs to return to the original intent when the six dams upstream of the Missouri River were built:  flood control and enhanced navigation.

The Corps manages the Missouri River through water releases from six upstream dams. As an abnormal amount of water entered the system from early snowmelt and rains in Nebraska, the Corps increased releases from Gavins Point Dam, the farthest dam downstream. At one time, the Corps was releasing 90,000 cubic feet per second from Gavins Point even as downstream farms and communities fought losing battles to contain floodwaters.

Flooding did total or partial damage to 52 levees along 350 miles of the Missouri River basin in Nebraska, Iowa, and Missouri, according to the Corps. That damage has left downstream communities vulnerable to any further flooding this spring.

Graves accuses the Corps of favoring recreation at the upstream reservoirs and habitat reclamation downstream over flood control. Graves points out the Corps has already lost a lawsuit which blamed its management for five floods between 2007 and 2014 that caused $300 million in damage. He says this year’s flooding adds to the notion that something needs to change.

“I think it’s going to have an impact and it’s already starting to have an impact, whether it be that lawsuit or the fact that we had a major flood in 2011 and now this flood in 2019,” according to Graves. “I think the Corps is rethinking, but you have to remember too that all of these districts are very autonomous.”

Graves says he has talked to both officials in the Omaha and the Kansas City offices.

Graves says he has seen some change by the Corps.

“They’re going to have to change the management. I think they are changing the management, not as quickly or as much as I would like to see and that’s something we’re going to have to continue to work on.”

 

Rosecrans Airport welcomes the return of the 139th Airlift Wing

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By BRENT MARTIN

St. Joseph Post

Photo courtesy of the Air National Guard, 139th Airlift Wing.

Members of the 139th Airlift Wing are returning to Rosecrans Memorial Airport as the Missouri River retreats from major flood stage.

Vice Commander, Colonel John Cluck, says the Air National Guard followed a set plan in leaving Rosecrans when the Missouri threatened to flood Elwood, Kansas and overflow the airport.

“We thought we were prudent by removing our high-value assets, which obviously are our C-130 aircraft as well as many of the things on our base,” Cluck says. “We have a lot of industrial equipment that it takes to run a wing, things of that nature. We got it all out of the flood zone and out of the danger area and then just continued to operate as best we could.”

Cluck says evacuation plans began in earnest when the Missouri River headed toward 28 feet, a foot above major flood stage.

The 139th flew its C-130 aircraft to nearby Forbes Field in Topeka, Kansas where the 190th Refueling Wing with its KC-135 Stratotankers is based. It is not only near St. Joseph, the base is within driving distance for the personnel at the 139th, who live in the St. Joseph and North Kansas City area.

Cluck says though the 139th had to leave its home base during the threat of flooding, it maintained a state of readiness.

“As this challenge presented itself to us, we felt it was important that we maintain that readiness and with the question of rising flooded waters, honestly the best way to maintain that was to reposition our aircraft at a different base,” Cluck says. “So, really, it didn’t change anything.”

Cluck says the 139th was prepared to respond to any call, whether from the governor or the White House.

Members of the 139th worked along with Elwood, Wathena, and St. Joseph residents to reinforce the levee which protects Elwood, keeping the Missouri out of the town though it reached a reported record crest of just over 32 feet.

The National Weather Service reports the Missouri River Wednesday dropped below 26 feet, heading toward 25 ½ feet. It could drop below moderate flood stage by the first of April.

 

I-29, Highway 59 remain closed as MoDOT assesses flood damage to area roads and bridges

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By BRENT MARTIN

St. Joseph Post

Interstate 29 north of St. Joseph remains closed as does Highway 59 south of St. Joseph as the Missouri Department of Transportation assesses the damage done to area roads and bridges.

Assistant District Maintenance Engineer, Jennifer Sardigal, says some roads and bridges might need repair once the floodwaters covering them recede.

“There have been some roadways that have been affected and some of the asphalt is coming apart and then we do have a couple of bridges that are having some structural issues due to the flowing of the water,” Sardigal says.

Sardigal says MoDOT hopes to reopen I-29 to Rock Port by the end of this week. Reopening the interstate beyond that is not possible until floodwaters recede off the interstate in Iowa. It might take some time for Highway 59 and the Amelia Earhart Bridge into Atchison reopens.

Flooding has closed up to 30 roads in northwest Missouri.

Sardigal says some floodwater got underneath the pavement.

“In which case it causes the risk of the pavement falling in, which is kind of what’s happening at a couple of bridges where the water just came rushing in fast enough to erode away a bunch of the soil,” according to Sardigal.

Sardigal says the pavement and shoulder has to be assessed before a road can be re-opened.

Highway 59 remains under water and the water is deep.

“You can sort of see the center line all along the roadway between (Highway) 45 and the bridge going into Atchison, but it is still covered.” Sardigal says. “At this time, we cannot see any damage, but we won’t know for sure until the water recedes.”

Sardigal says pavement and shoulders must pass inspection before a road can be reopened.

 

Holt County “fully exposed” after flood breaches several levees

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By BRENT MARTIN

St. Joseph Post

Floodwaters swamped Craig last week.

Missouri River levels might be falling in northwest Missouri, but Holt County continues to fight the flood.

Holt County Presiding Commissioner Tom Bullock says though the Missouri level has dropped, floodwaters are receding very slowly at Big Lake, around the town of Craig, and elsewhere. Bullock says efforts have been ongoing the past couple of days to keep floodwaters from breaching a levee protecting the town of Fortescue.

“There’s so much current going down through it. It’s already washed the Highway 159 bridge out south of town here,” Bullock says. “Just too much current, too much water.”

Bullock says the flood breached several levees in Holt County, leaving the county “fully exposed” to flooding this spring.

“When usually the river runs high anyway and we have a report from the Corps of Engineers that they’re already opening up the gates a little bit up north,” Bullock says. “That water should be getting here in about three days. So, that will come about the same time the rains are supposed to come this weekend. It just keeps people nervous all the time.”

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers increased releases from Gavins Point Dam from 50,000 cubic feet per second to 90,000 cfs on March 14th after the Spencer Dam in northern Nebraska failed, sending water from the Niobrara River into the Missouri River system. The Corps intended to bring releases down to 20,000 cfs, but stopped just short of that, reducing releases from Gavins Point to 24,000 cfs. Releases have been steadily increasing, from 27,000 cfs to a projected 36,000 cfs on Thursday.

Northwest Division Chief John Remus with the Army Corps Missouri River Management Division says the Corps is increasing the releases to prepare the upstream dam system for northern Missouri basin snowmelt. He says the system has 85% of its flood storage remaining.

The Missouri River dropped below major flood stage this morning, falling below 27 feet at St. Joseph. It crested just over 32 feet on Friday.

Bullock says floodwaters have receded enough for some residents to return to their homes in Craig and Big Lake.

An informational meeting for flood victims will be held in Rock Port Thursday. The multi-agency information meeting begins at noon at the Velma Houts Building in Rock Port. The meeting runs until 8pm. The meeting is sponsored by the Atchison-Holt Disaster Relief Committee.

For more information about the meeting, click here for the Holt County web page.

Floodwaters wreck levee system as Missouri River recedes at St. Joseph

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By BRENT MARTIN

St. Joseph Post

Levee breach in southern Buchanan County/Photo courtesy of the Kansas Highway Patrol

Floodwaters recede in northwest Missouri as the Missouri River at St. Joseph drops out of the major flood stage into the moderate category.

But, widespread flooding has damaged the levee system.

Lt. Col. James Startzell with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Omaha office says 350 miles of levees on the Missouri, Platte, and Elkhorn River basins have sustained significant flood damage.

“Due to the magnitude of the damage along these levees, repair of the levee system will take an extended period of time to execute. The majority of the levee system remains compromised and vulnerable, due to record inflows surpassing their designed protection levels,” Startzell says during a conference call held by the Corps of Engineers.

The Corps counts 52 full or partial levee breaches in Nebraska, Iowa, and Missouri.

The crest of the Missouri River is flowing downstream, putting pressure on the levee system in central Missouri.

Chief of Emergency Management in the Corps of Engineers’ Kansas City office, Jud Kneuvean, says several systems are handling as much water as they can, including those in Napoleon and Waverly.

“There is water against the sandbags that have been placed by the local flood fighters,” Kneuvean says. “We have projected that 18 levee systems will have less than two feet of freeboard. Ten of those 18 are projected to overtop. This estimate changes with each forecast.”

Kneuvean says though the flooding is beginning to ease, area residents cannot afford to let their guard down.

“Can’t say this enough, it’s dangerous river conditions out there. We continue to stress safety to all of our partners and all our own flood fighters.”

 

As the Missouri River recedes, worries continue about future flooding

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By BRENT MARTIN

St. Joseph Post

Missouri State Emergency Management Agency photo of northwest Missouri flooding.

Even as the Missouri River recedes from historic to near-historic levels, forecasters at the National Weather Service worry about future flooding.

Weather Service hydrologist Kevin Low with the Missouri Basin River Forecast Center in Pleasant Hill is keeping an eye on larger than normal snowmelt in the northern Missouri basin.

“As I’ve been stating the past couple of days, we do expect renewed flooding along the Missouri River downstream of Gavins Point due to snowmelt inflows from the Big Sioux, the Vermillion, and the James (Rivers),” Low says during a conference call hosted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Low expects minor flooding between Omaha and Brownville, Nebraska in early April due to excess northern snowmelt. He expects Rulo, Nebraska and St. Joseph to remain in at least minor flood stage through the beginning of April.

The National Weather Service reports the Missouri River at St. Joseph dropped to 27.95 feet by 7:30 this morning. NWS projects the river will drop out of major flood stage this evening, reaching 26.9 feet by around 7 o’clock.

Low expects larger than normal snowmelt to raise the level of those three northern Missouri basin rivers to record heights. Whether that will translate to record crests on the Missouri downstream is hard to predict.

What isn’t hard to predict, according to Low, is that there will be more flooding.

“I just want to let folks know that we’re not over with the flood season, yet, and these projections for what the Big Sioux and the James will do at the end of the month do not include any rainfall that might occur between now and then,” Low says. “It just includes the snowmelt.”

Low says that is the unknown in all of this is:  how much rain the area will receive this spring.

“I believe that the public should be very concerned about the mainstem below Gavins Point for the next month, at least,” according to Low.

Snowmelt had been proceeding rapidly until temperatures dropped up north, slowing the rate of melting.

 

Mostly cloudy with temps in the low 50s today

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Today will start out cloudy and cool before warming up into the lower 50s with a few peaks of sunshine in the afternoon. Temperatures will start to climb Tuesday and really get going on Wednesday with a high of 70°F possible over western Missouri and upper 60s over central Missouri. The warmer temperatures will continue into Thursday, but the chance of rain will start to increase, especially over northern Missouri. Here’s the 7-day forecast from the National Weather Service:

Today: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 53. North northeast wind 8 to 11 mph.

Tonight: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 37. Northeast wind 3 to 7 mph.

Tuesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 58. South southeast wind around 6 mph.

Tuesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 42. South southeast wind around 8 mph.

Wednesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 71. Breezy, with a south wind 9 to 14 mph increasing to 15 to 20 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 28 mph.

Wednesday Night: A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1 a.m. Partly cloudy, with a low around 53. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

Thursday: A chance of showers and thunderstorms, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 1 p.m. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 67. Chance of precipitation is 70%.

Thursday Night: Showers likely. Cloudy, with a low around 51. Chance of precipitation is 70%.

Friday: Showers. High near 59. Chance of precipitation is 80%.

Friday Night: Showers. Low around 38. Chance of precipitation is 90%.

Saturday: Showers likely. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 47. Chance of precipitation is 70%.

Saturday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 30.

Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 51.

Missouri River drops below 30 feet, evacuation orders lifted

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By BRENT MARTIN

St. Joseph Post

Levels on the Missouri River continue to go down and area residents are returning to their homes.

The National Weather Service reports the level on the Missouri River has receded to 29.58 feet at St. Joseph at 7am, after reaching what could be a record crest. Preliminary indications are the Missouri River edged just above the record crest of 32.1 feet Friday before beginning its steady decline. NWS expects the Missouri to drop below the major flood stage Monday evening, when the river is projected to drop to 26.6 feet.

An evacuation order issued by the city of St. Joseph and Buchanan County for residents protected by the L-455 levee was lifted earlier. The levee protects the southern part of the city, including Lake Contrary.

A notice issued by the St. Joseph Police Department indicates now the only streets closed due to flooding are Stockyards, Cedar and Waterworks.

Elwood, Kansas residents are being allowed to return home after a voluntary evacuation order virtually emptied the city and closed businesses there.

 

Elwood braces for flooding, but levee is holding back a Missouri River at near record height

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By BRENT MARTIN

St. Joseph Post

Sandbagging operations continue in Elwood, Kansas near the Missouri River.

All eyes are on the Missouri right now, especially in Kansas.

Elwood, Kansas, just across the Missouri River from St. Joseph, has evacuated as the Missouri rises to nearly record levels. The National Weather Service reports the Missouri at 32.01 at 2:30pm Friday, just shy of the record crest of 32.1 feet reached in 1993. NWS expects the level of the Missouri River at St. Joseph to begin to lower this evening, projecting it to keep dropping and leave the major flood stage by Sunday morning.

Officials called for the evacuation of Elwood when the river reached 30 feet.

Doniphan County, Kansas Emergency Management spokesman Rick Howell says Elwood residents cooperated when asked to leave their town.

“You’re talking about a town that for generations has lived with the Missouri River, so they’ve seen this type of thing through the years,” Howell says. “So, when local officials start to talk about evacuation for precautionary steps and protection of life and property, these local residents take that seriously.”

Members of the nearby 139th Airlift Wing at Rosecrans Airport are helping sandbag operations to fortify the levee which protects Elwood.

The 139th Vice Commander, Col. John Cluck, says high priority equipment has been moved from nearby Rosecrans Memorial Airport. Its command center is now located across the river in St. Joseph. The C-130 planes have been flown to Topeka, Kansas.

Cluck says the 139th feels confident the levee will hold.

“She’s a strong old girl and she’s holding tight,” Cluck says. “So, we’re helping her. We are continuing to stack sandbags on top of it to give us some more depth. We have water on sandbags, but that’s okay, that’s why we put them there.”

Sandbagging will continue until the river recedes enough to be deemed no longer a threat to Elwood.

Evacuations, closures issued after Missouri River crests higher than expected

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By BRENT MARTIN

St. Joseph Post

High water from the crest of the Missouri River has triggered evacuation orders for parts of St. Joseph.

City officials in Elwood, Kansas, across the river, already issued evacuation orders after the Missouri reached 30 feet last night. It currently stands at 32.02 feet, just below the record crest reached at St. Joseph in 1993.

A levee breach sent floodwaters over Highway 59 in southern Buchanan County, closing the highway from Rushville to Atchison, including the Amelia Earhart Bridge.

St. Joseph police report Kirschner Addition, located north of Alabama, is now under mandatory evacuation.

The City of St. Joseph and Buchanan County issued a voluntary evacuation of areas behind the L-455 levee system on the Missouri side. St. Joseph police says there is an additional two feet of levee height protecting the area, but the voluntary evacuation was issued in an abundance of caution.

The area behind the L-455 levee unit includes nearly all areas west of Lake Avenue/U.S. 59 Highway, between Contrary Creek on the south and Atchison Street on the north.

Stockyards Expressway will remain closed until further notice due to flooding. A mandatory evacuation order has been issued for Kirshner Addition north of Alabama Street. Alabama from King Hill Ave to Lake Ave is open. Alabama from Lake Ave to Lake Contrary is closed.

The animal shelter opening at Hyde Park has been postponed until the animals from the Lake Avenue Shelter can be moved there.

An evacuation shelter has been set up at the Keys Church, located at 6002 South 9th Street. An animal shelter has been established at Hyde Park, located at 899 E. Hyde Park.

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