With voluntary evacuations underway in Elwood and parts of Wathena, and mandatory evacuations possible, Doniphan County officials released a public information update. (Click Here)
It includes information on what to do if you decide to evacuate, what you need to know about security, and where to turn for housing and transportation assistance.
You can also find out who to call if you have questions about utilities or flood insurance, or if you’d like to volunteer .
As part of a nation-wide effort, two local Wal-mart Stores are participating in a 90 day price cut for gasoline at Murphy USA stations.
The Maryville location and the Wal-Mart on the South Belt Highway in St. Joseph started Wednesday allowing customers to cut 10 cents a gallon if they pay with a pre-loaded Wal-Mart Gift card.
The campaign is to help consumers who are watching their spending in a down economy.
“Our customers have told us that high gas prices are a top budget concern,” Chief Marketing Officer Stephen Quinn said.
The discounts start imeaditly. You’ll need to purchase a pre-loaded Wal-Mart gift card, Wal-Mart Money Cards or Wal-Mart credit cards and must buy the gas with the card. The cards can be re-loaded as time goes on.
Going on a road-trip? You can find a complete list of stores nation-wide participating online at www.walmartstores.com/gasrollback.
The Terribles St Jo Fronteir Casino is surrounded by water along the Missouri River.
Casino officials are going by boat to get essential equipment and computers out of the casino. Residents north of the casino are traveling by boat to get to their homes as well.
A handful of cars in the parking lot were not taken out in time before the water inundated the area. The road to the casino is closed. Heritage Park and the Remington Nature Center are all flooded.
Rising floodwaters have forced KCP&L to pull some workers from the Iatan plant near the Missouri River.
Only essential workers will remain at the plant near Weston. A spokeswoman says floodwaters are coming over U.S. 45, the main route in and out of the plant. She says operations are continuing as normal.
Railroad and MODOT crews are reportedly working at the nearby Farley Bridge to clear it of debris. Officials say debris was collecting in the flood-swollen Platte River nearby.
The plant is the largest coal fired generating plant in Missouri. The Iatan 1 facility opened in 1980. The smokestack is taller than any occupied building in the state. The Iatan 2 plant opened late last year. It generates 850 Megawatts with a capacity to burn 494 tons of coal per hour.
Senator Claire McCaskill says she will visit the flood zones of Northwest Missouri this weekend, although she has not yet finalized her schedule. She expects to announce details by Thursday.
McCaskill told radio reporters Congress should revisit the Master Manual used by the Corps of Engineers to regulate flows on the Missouri River. The Missouri Democrat also says they need to investigate whether the Corps followed those rules. She also says Congress needs to ensure the Corps is following the Master Manual, and prioritizing the protection of life and property over navigation and recreation.
Listen here for more from McCaskill on Missouri flooding issues.
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Gov. Jay Nixon on Tuesday requested that President Barack Obama declare an emergency for the state of Missouri because of unprecedented flooding along the Missouri river system.
The governor’s office says flooding caused by excessive rain and by releases of water from reservoirs along the Missouri River has already impacted several counties in northwest Missouri, and is expected to affect every county in the state along the river. In addition, flash flooding in northeast Missouri has impacted two counties there.
“I’ve ordered the Missouri National Guard to coordinate efforts to protect Missourians and their property, and we’ve mobilized numerous other state resources to help local emergency response and law enforcement officials as well,” Gov. Nixon said. “A federal emergency declaration is another important step in our work to bring every resource to bear to fight these historic floods that are impacting so much of Missouri.”
In his letter to the President seeking the emergency declaration, Gov. Nixon asked for federal assistance for work and services to save lives and property, including appropriate supplies to support long-term shelter operations for communities forced to evacuate their homes because of rising flood water, and technical assistance and equipment such as pumps, sandbags and sand to support flood-fighting operations.
Several communities in Andrew, Atchison, Buchanan, Holt and Platte counties already have been evacuated, or are in the process of evacuation, because of flooding. Missouri River flooding has closed sections of Interstate 29 and U.S. highways 136 and 159 in the area as well.
The counties along the Missouri River that are already affected or will be affected by the flooding are Andrew, Atchison, Boone, Buchanan, Callaway, Carroll, Chariton, Clay, Cole, Cooper, Franklin, Gasconade, Holt, Howard, Jackson, Lafayette, Moniteau, Montgomery, Osage, Platte, Ray, Saline, St. Charles, St. Louis and Warren, as well as the City of St. Louis. Clark and Lewis counties have been impacted by the flashfloods in northeast Missouri.
On June 8, Gov. Nixon issued Executive Order 11-18 directing the Missouri National Guard to coordinate and supervise the state’s efforts in preparing for and responding to flooding along the Missouri River and its tributaries. The National Guard will continue to work directly with local law enforcement and emergency management agencies to ensure that Missourians and their property are protected.
Last week, Gov. Nixon ordered the State Emergency Management Agency to assist communities in obtaining sand for sandbagging in areas affected by flooding along the Missouri River. Rising water levels already have breached levees and forced the evacuation of small towns along the river in northwest Missouri.
Supplies of sand are being used to fight flooding along the Missouri River, but high water and swift current have made river-dredging operations – the usual source of sand – unsafe in affected areas. At Gov. Nixon’s direction, SEMA has identified additional suppliers that can provide sand to communities where local supplies may be exhausted or running low.
Missourians who need disaster information, shelter information or referrals are urged to call 211. The 211 service number is now available for most areas in Missouri. In areas where the 211 number is not operational, citizens can call 800-427-4626. Weather and emergency information also are available on the state of Missouri’s website, MO.gov.
The Missouri River is cresting in Saint Joseph more than one foot above the predicted crest. The river reached 29.58 feet at 11:15 this morning, just over 12 inches more than the forecast. The revised forecast predicts a crest of 29.7 feet at one this afternoon. Then the river is expected to retreat to 28.4 feet by Thursday morning and stay there until Sunday morning.
At Rulo the river is falling from the record crest of 27.26 feet yesterday to 26.73 at 11:30 this morning. It’s expected to stay mostly flat at around 27 feet through Sunday morning.
The Missouri River at St Joseph reached 29.62 feet Tuesday afternoon. The river is expected to drop about a foot and level off by Thursday.
US-59 highway, and the Amelia Earhart Bridge at Atchsion, have been closed by high water overtopping a levee near Winthrop. (Click Here) That leaves just two Missouri River bridges between KC and IA: in Leavenworth and St Joseph. Tuesday morning, traffic was heavy at Leavenworth, but it appeared to be a normal morning commute on US-36 in St Joe.
Evacuations were ordered Monday in Elwood and Wathena, Kansas. Those evacuations remain voluntary at this time.
Evacuations were also ordered in the Sugar Lake area and in Lewis & Clark Village.
In St Joseph, Heritage Park Softball Complex, and St Joe Frontier Casino were closed because of high water.
Rosecrans Airport was closed Tuesday for scheduled construction that had nothing to do with river levels.
The American Red Cross opened a shelter for evacuees at Benton High School in St Joseph. (Click Here)
The City Yards, located at 2316 South 3rd, were vacated due to a basement wall collapse, with water entering the basement. Operations have been relocated to the recycling center. The phone numbers have stayed the same.
Residents are asked to please refrain from sightseeing in the affected flooding areas. The large volume of traffic, along with the safety risk of rising waters, is creating a potentially dangerous situation for motorists and residents.
Holt County reported a new levee breach yesterday in the Forest City area. The 60 ft breach occurred on Cannon Ditch near it’s connection with Kimsey Creek. The area affected includes mostly farm land west of Forest City toward the Bob Brown Conservation Area and then northward toward Napier.
In Holt County, about 120,000 acres of farmland are underwater. That’s nearly double last year. Over 50 county roads are underwater with over 100 miles of roadway affected and 800 home structures are impacted. Of those homes about 350 belong to Big Lake residents as secondary recreation homes – the remaining 450 or so are permanent residential homes from Corning to the Forest City bottoms. Over 481 people are displaced in Corning, Craig, Big Lake, Bigelow and Fortescue. Another 150 people are displaced in the rural areas around those communities.
Only two persons have chosen to stay in the Red Cross Shelter in Mound City, which means that 629 others have found shelter on their own.
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Late Thursday, a breach north of the Brownville Bridge added to the urgency of evacuations ordered west of I-29 in Atchison County.
Evacuations are urged in Langdon, Watson, Phelps City and Nishnabotna.
Releases at Gavins Point reached 160,000 cubic feet per second Thursday. The Army Corps of Engineers expects to continue that level through at least August, unless additional rain events prompt increases.
Holt County: Bigelow and Fortescue are now under evacuation orders. Officials fear a perfect storm of rising Missouri River levels and possible problems along the Little Tarkio Creek. Big Lake state park is closed and Big Lake Village has been evacuated. There are no access roads open to the village. (Click here for more)
The City of St Joseph has closed Riverfront Park downtown. The city released its planning for possible evacuations in the face of rising floodwaters. Find out more here.
BNSF Crews raised the tracks near Big Lake. We have details here.
Buchanan County deputies will man road blocks starting Wednesday June 15th in an effort to keep Lakefront Lane closed and sightseers off the south side levee at Lake Contrary. (Click here for more)
There are no plans for the Army Corps of Engineers to blow-up any levee in the area and it is not likely that any plans will surface. The water-plant in St Joseph is NOT threatened by flooding. The levee sponsor in Atchison County is planning a partial breach downstream of a full breach on the L-575 levee.
Evacuations are now mandatory north of the Nishnabotna River in Atchison County after water began overtopping the levee at Watson, Missouri. A flash flood warning is in effect for all areas west of I-29 in Atchison County. (Click here for more)
On the south side, voluntary evacuations begin when the river reaches 30 feet for residents and businesses west of King Hill/Lake Avenue/US-59 highway, from Joseph Street on the south to East Lake Boulevard and Florence Road to the north. A staging area will be set up at Hyde Park. Evacuation routes will include King Hill Avenue and Alabama Street.
There are mixed signals coming out of Elwood, where voluntary evacuations were ordered on Monday because of rising river levels. According to a policy adopted by the city, the evacuation should have become mandatory when the river topped 29 feet early Tuesday morning.
The Doniphan County Sheriff now says he’ll leave the decision where it belongs: in Elwood.
Officials agree, staying put in Elwood is risky. The roads could close, the utilities could be shut off, and you could be stuck there without help if you have another emergency.
Elwood-Gladden Levee Board President Craig Sheppard tells us they have plenty of “freeboard” left, the levee is still structurally sound, and the river is dropping.
“Our levee is living up to its design, it’s performing up to its design specifications,” Sheppard said.
“It’s wet on the outside, dry on the inside, so it’s pretty successful so far.”
Doniphan County Sheriff Jerry Dubach says he has not had a chance to meet with Elwood officials, and does not want to “step on their toes.” Dubach says the decision to declare a mandatory evacuation should stay with the people who are watching the levee every day.
So: the evacuations in Elwood are voluntary. At least for now.
We rode the levee road with Sheppard Monday evening. There is a lot of water over the banks of the Missouri River, and that water is up against the toe of the levee. But Sheppard says there is no pressure against the structure or current to speak of.
Governor Jay Nixon made another trip to northwest Missouri Monday for an operational briefing from his flooding task forces. Nixon, his adjutant general, and the commander of the western Missouri task force agree it will be a long flood fight, but they insist we will win that fight.
Nixon says this will be a long and drawn-out flood, exacerbated by heavy rains Sunday and Monday. He says before we were fighting a “release flood” out of the upper reservoirs on the Missouri River system, but it’s much more complicated because of the additional rain.
Adjutant General, Major General Stephen Danner, says this is a local fight to the men and women of the National Guard.
“This is their fight, these are their counties, they want to be in and help their friends and neighbors as badly as anyone,” Danner said, “we’re in this all the way.”
“It’s a long fight, but we’re going to be successful with this.”
Danner says the Guard is there “to protect good people from bad things.”
“Safety and security, patrolling levees, making sure your farm machinery that you’ve put up on the levee remains safe, that your home is safe and secure while you’re away, or, if you’re not in the flood area, you’re using the water, the sewer plant, etc, we’re in there at Governor Nixon’s orders to make sure that we protect those assets as well.”
Col. Greg Mason, commander of Flood Task Force 110 of western Missouri, says the Guard is equipped and ready to protect critical infrastructure, including the water plants in Rock Port, Craig and Forest City.
