By BRENT MARTIN

St. Joseph Post

A levee north of Highway 59 in southern Buchanan County has been breached by floodwaters, forcing the closing of Highway 59 from Highway 45 to the Amelia Earhart Bridge into Atchison, Kansas.

Buchanan County Emergency Management Director Bill Brinton says floodwaters now threaten Winthrop as well as Lewis and Clark Village.

“We have notified all of the residents who live in southwest Buchanan County and then the city of Winthrop and Lewis and Clark Village. Most of the people who (live in) Lewis and Clark Village have self-evacuated,” Brinton says.

Brinton says emergency crews had been closely watching as floodwaters overtopped the levee. The levee gave way and failed late this morning, sending floodwaters over Highway 59 and throughout the area.

The levee break could relieve growing flooding concerns downstream.

“We just heard from the National Weather Service that we were about to have a record set near Atchison and, with the water flowing down, it’s now flowing out into Buchanan County and so it certainly is a flooding issue,” Brinton says.

The National Weather Service has revised upward the expected crest of the Missouri River at St. Joseph. The Weather Service says the river now has topped 28.5 feet and is projected to crest at 30.1 feet tomorrow morning around 7 o’clock.  NWS projects the Missouri River to drop below major flood stage Sunday evening.

 

By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post

Extreme northwest Missouri continues to battle floodwaters, even as flooding on the Missouri River moves downstream.

Atchison County Emergency Management Deputy Director Mark Manchester says three levees in the county have failed and the community of Watson has been surrounded by water and cut off from the rest of the county.

Manchester is grateful for one thing:  no deaths so far.

“The levees can be fixed, homes can be repaired, roads can be fixed; people’s lives can’t be replaced,” Manchester says. “And, like I said, thankfully we haven’t had any injuries or anything like that.”

Flooding began in earnest with the failure of the Spencer Dam in northern Nebraska, which sent the Niobrara River cascading south. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers increased water releases from Gavins Point Dam, upstream on the Missouri River, to relieve pressure on Nebraska. But, all that water washed over private levees downstream, sending water over Interstate 29 in southwestern Iowa, forcing the closure of I-29 at Rock Port.

It didn’t stop there.

A levee failed west of Watson, which now finds itself an island. Another levee failed two miles north of Highway 136 and a third was overtopped and collapsed between Rock Creek and Mill Creek.

Manchester says, as bad as the current situation is, he is concerned about the near future.

“A lot of levee damage out there,” Manchester says. “If this turns out to be a wet spring, summer, we get a lot of rains, and the levees haven’t had a chance to get repaired yet, then we could be looking at flooding again later in the year. We don’t know.”

As the flooding in extreme northwest Missouri grew worse, the Missouri Department of Transportation moved to closure of I-29 south, diverting northbound traffic to U.S. 71 just north of St. Joseph.

Manchester says that with the failure of private levees in Iowa and Missouri it makes it difficult to estimate when things might return to normal.

“This is such a different ballgame with the number of breaks that have occurred to our north and the number of areas that are impacted,” according to Manchester. “So, we really don’t know at this time how soon this is going to be over.”

The National Weather Service forecasts the Missouri River to crest Friday morning at just over 29 feet, which would be just below the level reached in 2011. The record crest of slightly higher than 32 feet was reached in 1993. The water level on the river is expect to drop quickly to below major flood stage by the end of the weekend.

 

 

By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post

Floodwaters have rolled through breaches in levees in extreme northwest Missouri, threatening two towns and forcing transportation officials to close I-29 just north of St. Joseph.

Missouri Department of Transportation Assistant Engineer Marty Liles says the Missouri River has overrun its banks, sending floodwaters very close to two northwest Missouri cities.

“So, right now, the community of Craig unfortunately is really doing a bunch of levee work and sandbagging to try and protect their communities. Watson is an area that my understanding is that they never really have been impacted with floodwaters and now they actually for the first time have been impacted with floodwaters,” Liles tells reporters during a news conference held off I-29 at the Craig intersection.

MoDOT had closed I-29 at Rock Port to keep traffic from running into a flooded interstate in Iowa. Now, transportation officials have closed I-29 at the intersection with U.S. Highway 71, not allowing traffic to travel north as floodwaters roll near the interstate in northwest Missouri. So far, floodwaters have not lapped over the interstate, but Liles says they have rolled up onto the shoulder near Rock Port.

Liles says he doesn’t know how long the interstate will be closed to northbound traffic.

“I really don’t,” Liles says. “We kind of look at this on an hour-by-hour, day-by-day basis. We’ll watch this throughout the day and into the morning and see how the interstate is impacted.”

Atchison County, in extreme northwest Missouri, has seen a couple of levees fail. A breach in one levee has widened. A make-shift mud levee, fortified with sandbags, has been erected in Craig as residents attempt to keep the Missouri River from overrunning the heart of the town.

Liles says MoDOT understands the impact of its action.

“It’s an impact. This is an interstate that brings through traffic up into Omaha and south from Omaha and brings goods and services,” Liles says, noting truck traffic is having to drive long distances on alternate routes to deliver their goods.

MoDOT is advising travelers to take I-35 north to I-80 west to get around the flooding and get back on I-29 north.

The Missouri River is at 27 feet at St. Joseph. The National Weather Service forecasts it to reach nearly 30-feet, a projection the Weather Service recently revised upward.

 

By BRENT MARTIN

St. Joseph Post

Flooding along the Missouri River in northwest Missouri has forced the closure of Interstate 29 to move south, now just north of St. Joseph.

The Missouri Department of Transportation has closed I-29 at Mile Marker 57, the intersection of U.S. 71. MoDOT had closed I-29 at Rock Port, due to flooding in Iowa. Floodwaters breached levees in northwest Missouri today, sending floodwaters across I-29 in Missouri.

Assistant District Engineer Jennifer Sardigal in MoDOT’s St. Joseph office says traffic traveling north on I-29 now will be diverted to U.S. 71.

“We’re closing it at 71 freeway where 71, 229, and 29 meet to divert the traffic going towards Iowa up 71,” says Sardigal.

This is the first time during the current flooding that water has threatened to cover I-29 in Missouri.

MoDOT advises anyone wanting to travel I-29 north to use I-35 and then take I-80 into Iowa. For more information visit: modot.org/2019-northwest-missouri-flooding.

Stay informed about Missouri road conditions by using MoDOT’s Traveler Information Map, available online at modot.org, or through MoDOT’s smartphone app, available for iPhone and Android mobile devices.

You can also call 888-ASK-MODOT (888-275-6636) to speak with a customer service representative 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Off and on rain will move into the area this morning, and become more steady through the afternoon and evening. Most of the rain will fall north of I-70, where up to 1/2″ is expected, with lesser amounts further south. While this activity is not expected to dramatically worsen the flooding along the Missouri River and neighboring tributaries it will certainly contribute to a slower recession of the water. More rain is expected later this week, into the weekend, which again will slow the recession of waters, but not expected to dramatically aggravate the ongoing flooding. Here’s the 7-day forecast from the National Weather Service:

Today: Showers before 2 p.m., then rain likely, mainly after 5 p.m. High near 49. Light and variable wind becoming east 6 to 11 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.

Tonight: Rain, mainly before 4 a.m. Low around 36. East northeast wind 9 to 13 mph becoming northwest after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.

Wednesday: Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming sunny, with a high near 54. West wind 9 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph.

Wednesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 31. North wind 7 to 10 mph.

Thursday: Sunny, with a high near 55. North northwest wind around 7 mph.

Thursday Night: Clear, with a low around 33.

Friday: Sunny, with a high near 62.

Friday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 39.

Saturday: A chance of rain after 1 p.m. Partly sunny, with a high near 63. Chance of precipitation is 40%.

Saturday Night: A chance of rain. Cloudy, with a low around 46. Chance of precipitation is 50%.

Sunday: Rain likely. Cloudy, with a high near 61. Chance of precipitation is 60%.

Sunday Night: A chance of rain. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 48. Chance of precipitation is 50%.

Monday: A chance of rain. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 62. Chance of precipitation is 40%.