Water flowing over a levee near Winthrop is flooding US-59 highway, prompting transportation officials to shut down traffic on the highway, including the Amelia Earhart Bridge into Atchison.

Elaine Justus of the Missouri Department of Transportation says traffic will be allowed to continue north and south along Route 45, but access to the bridge is being shut down until further notice.  No traffic will be allowed to cross the river in either direction.

Currently the only Missouri River crossings available between Kansas City and Iowa are at Leavenworth, Kansas and on US-36 highway in St Joseph.

The Midland Empire Red Cross opened a shelter at Benton high school Monday night.

The shelter opened to accommodate evacuees from Elwood, Wathena and the Lewis and Clark Village.

For those evacuating, the shelter is open as a short term resource until a long term option can be found.  Director Kevin Kirby said.

“Hopefully water will go down and they will be able to go back to their homes,” Kirby said.  “We will help people make recovery plans as needed and hopefully move then into more comfortable situations than cot’s in Benton’s gymnasium.”

If you are evacuating, Kirby advised to bring personal items such as clothing and any medications.  Pets will not be allowed in the shelter and you need to find a temporary home for your pets, Kirby said.

If the need arises for more shelter locations, the Red Cross has the resources available.

Listen to Kirby’s comments by clicking play below:[audio:http://www.stjosephpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Red-Cross.mp3|titles=Kevin Kirby]

 

 

Voluntary evacuations were ordered Monday in Elwood and Wathena, Kansas.

“We just sounded the alarms right now,” Elwood Mayor George Mitchell said Monday afternoon.

Elwood officials issued the voluntary evacuation as per the city’s evacuation plan which states when the Missouri River reaches 28 feet, a voluntary evacuation will be announced.  At 29 feet, the evacuation became mandatory.

Wathena has a similar plan.  The evacuations in Wathena become mandatory if the Missouri River reaches 30 feet at St Joseph.

The Missouri River topped 29 feet early Tuesday morning but was expected to drop below 28 feet sometime Tuesday.

Wathena City Clerk Jim Richardson said the voluntary evacuation was a way to get people to think about what they want to take with them when they leave.

“At the mandatory level there is not going to be enough time to take everything that you want to take at that time,” Richardson said.

The levee protecting Elwood is in good shape.

“We have no problems at this time with the levee at all, anywhere,” Mitchell said.

The levee is living up to its design, Levee Board president Craig Sheppard said.

“We’re wet on the outside and dry on the inside, so it’s pretty successful so far,” Sheppard said.

St Joseph officials have evacuated a building at the City yards located on 3^rd street near U.S. Highway 36.

Overnight rainfall has flooded the area, which is not protected by a levee along the Missouri River. A basement wall collapsed and water entered the basement overnight. Operations were moved to the Recycling Center on the Belt Highway, city officials reported.

There is currently no major issue’s with the levee’s protecting Rosecrans and Elwood or St Joseph, Assistant Public Works Director Andrew Clements said.

“When we experience the higher rain amounts, plus the river really wasn’t that far away from our facility anyways, that water really didn’t have a place to go,” Clements said.

The Stockyards expressway also closed after water topped the roadway. Other road closures in St Joseph include northbound Waterworks Road, Ellinger Road and Southbound Highway 759 at Florence and Bluffview.

Sugar Lake is under a voluntary evacuation and city officials advised Rosecrans will be closed until Wednesday for construction work not related to flooding.

 

 

 

 

 

Terrible’s Frontier Casino on the northwest side of St Joseph was ecacuated Monday morning.

Officials closed the casino and asked everyone to leave because floodwaters are creeping towards the Casino which lies along the Missouri River.

The Missouri River is expected to rise about another foot to 28.6 feet by Tuesday afternoon in St Joseph.

 

It’s anything but business as usual in Forest City, Missouri, where residents and businesses are keeping a nervous eye on rising floodwaters west of town.

Rich Mendenhall, the plant manager for the Sur-Gro Plant Food Company says he’s taking no chances.  Mendenhall says flooding hasn’t reached the town itself, but he’s packing up fertilizer and equipment and moving it to higher ground in Oregon, Missouri.

“There nothing different in Forest City yet,” Mendenhall says, “but just west of town about a half mile, on the west side of Kimsey Creek, there’s far more water than there was last night.”

“We’ve got a building over in Oregon we bought about three and a half years ago.  It’s got some dry fertilizer storage, so we’re moving it over to that building.”

Mendenhall says they’re actually seeing a little more traffic that usual, mostly from out of town visitors or volunteers.  He says some businesses are benefiting from the extra traffic.

Tim Slagle, the owner of the Dawg House Bar and Grill agrees.

“It’s actually picked up some, with all the extra people that’ve been in town, that have been helping with sandbagging and that have been sightseeing,” Slagle said.

Slagle says when he saw railroad crews removing their signal equipment from a crossing near his house, he decided to move his family out.  But he’s holding firm for now at the bar, which is about four blocks away and on higher ground.

“…I think my house is in more danger than the bar at the moment, but it’s every day.  About every hour of every day we’re keeping an eye on where the water’s at.”

Flooding has prompted dozens of road closures in Northwest Missouri. Here’s the latest list.

 

MODOT on Monday announced that the following roads have been closed or impacted due to flooding (new entries are bold faced):

 

 

 

ANDREW COUNTY:
Route T – Closed between County Road 399 and County Road 401

ATCHISON COUNTY:
Route V – Closed near the Iowa state line.
Interstate 29- Closed to all traffic (northbound) at mile marker 110. Traffic is being diverted at Exit 110 to U.S. 136.
U.S. 275- Closed near Hamburg, IA.
Route 111 – Closed from Route Z in Atchison County to the town of Craig in Holt County.
U.S. 136 – Closed west of I-29. This blocks access to the Missouri River Bridge at Brownville.
Route D- Closed between Route A and U.S. 136
Route U – Closed between U.S. 136 and County Road 280.
Route E – Closed between Route U and MO 111.
Route A – Closed between County Road 175 and Route B.
Route BB – Closed between County Road B Ave. and Route A.

BUCHANAN COUNTY:
MO 759 – Closed between Florence Road and Lower Lake Road.

DEKALB COUNTY:
ROUTE W – Closed between Route A and Route D. (Due to flooding from Lost Creek)

HOLT COUNTY:
U.S. 159 – Closed from Route P to the Nebraska state line. This blocks access to the Missouri River Bridge at Rulo. Recommended detour: U.S. 36 at St. Joseph.
Route 111 – Closed from Route 118 to U.S. 159.
Route W – Closed from I-29 to Route 111.
Route 111 – Closed from the junction of Route 111 & 118 to the City of Craig.
Route 118 – Closed from MO 111 to Route P
Route P – Closed from MO 118 to MO 159

For more information about this or other projects being handled by MoDOT, please call our toll-free customer service hotline at: 1-888-ASK-MoDOT (1-888-275-6636).

Saint Joseph will observe National HIV Testing Day today with a free testing outreach.  It’s scheduled for 10 am to 1 pm and 4 to 6 pm in the Elm Room at Heartland Regional Medical Center.  Health officials say testing has never been easier and preliminary results are available in 15 minutes.

Nearly 250 antique and classic tractors rolled through Northwest Missouri Saturday in a fundraiser undaunted by rain and lightning.  The Show Me Tractor Cruise had 245 registered entries for the 51-mile parade that included some nearby lightning strikes near Rochester.  Nobody was hit.  The event raised tens of thousands of dollars for the Dream Factory and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.  Total donations are still being tallied and will be announced later this week.

The Corps of Engineers will help sandbag some sand boils behind a levee in the Halls levee district today.  Emergency management coordinator Bill Brinton says the boils were discovered yesterday in an agricultural area in south Buchanan County.  The Corps plans to use an air boat to help bag the boils.