Flooding forced residents out of this home near Verdel, Nebraska.  A snake tries to get in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In an effort to assist those residents and businesses in pre-defined at-risk flood areas, the city and county are making available a limited quantity of sand and sandbags for use in protecting property.

The hours of operation for this effort will be 8am – 8pm, Thursday, June 23 through Sunday, June 26, at 6th & Atchison.

This will be on a first-come, first-serve basis until the supply of sand and bags is gone. The supplies are free to those residents and / or businesses in need.

The pre-defined areas of at-risk properties are: Residents living on the north side of St. Joseph, along Waterworks Road. Businesses in the downtown area bounded by Angelique on the north, 6th Street on the east, Monterey on the south, and the river on the west. Residential properties and businesses on the south side of St. Joseph bounded by 36 Highway on the north, Lake Avenue on the east, city limits on the south, and the river on the west. Residents of Buchanan County protected by levee L455.

Important guidelines and information as follows: Residents must check-in when first arriving at 6th & Atchison. Must show proof of residency / business in defined area. Sign a waiver of liability.

Each property will be limited to the supply of sand made available. Residential properties will be limited to three pickup loads. Residential property owners are not allowed to use commercial vehicles.

Businesses and / or service or faith-based organizations are asked to contact the city in advance by calling 816.271.4610 to request quantities needed.

For each residential pickup load of sand, residents will be given 50 sand bags, while supplies are available. City crews will load the sand into the bed of pickup trucks.

To give residents an idea of the quantity of sand they might need to protect their property, use the following example as a guide. To construct a 25-foot long wall of sand 1 foot tall would require approximately 150 sand bags. One pickup load of sand can make approximately 50 sandbags.

The purpose of this effort is to assist those truly in need of protecting their property from potential flood waters. The amount of sand and bags available is limited; please only make use of this opportunity if your property and / or business could be affected by rising river levels.

The city and county wishes to express appreciation to Bunge Milling of Atchison, Kansas, for the donation of more than 20,000 bags. Also, thanks to Jack Horner Construction Rentals for their assistance with providing a quantity of sand bags at a reduced cost.

The Army Corps of engineers are expecting today’s releases at Gavins Point to be the Maximum release amount for the summer.

The Corps announced earlier this week they would increase releases to 160,000 cubic feet per second at Gavins Point today.  Click play below to listen to the KFEQ Journal report.

[audio:http://www.stjosephpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/0623-Journal.mp3|titles=0623 Journal]

While maps are being prepared for releases of 200,000 cubic feet per second, they don’t expect to go any higher, Gavins Point Operations Manager Dave Becker said.

“You know, we really don’t,” Becker said.  “Our projection is based the water that’s already on the ground as well as a wetter than normal weather forecast, and at this point in time based on the water on the ground and the forecast that is our projected peak at Gavins Point.”

According to Corps of Engineers data, that release will be about 1,000 cubic feet per second higher than the in-flow at the reservoir at Gavins Point.  Still, the reservoir is at a good level, considering all the water moving through, Becker said.

“Yeah, we’re not at a point of water level at the lake where we need to go to increased surveillance but we are monitoring it anyways.  Everything related to the dam is getting monitored more regularly.”

The dam, structurally, is in good shape, Becker said.  And it’s nowhere near the maximum amount it can release.  Becker says at Gavins Point, if needed, they could release up to 584,000 cubic feet per second. The dam was built with that capability based off of the numbers from the 1952 flood.

Meanwhile, this year, concern started in January when Corps officials noticed larger than normal snow packs and started developing a plan for the Missouri River Basin.

“So they had a real good plan for handling that snow melt.  But then these extreme rains in the upper great-plains happened in May,” Becker said.  “In northern Wyoming, eastern Montana and the Western Dakotas, that contributed 300 to 600 percent of normal rainfall in the month of May and that really took us to the point where increases needed to be made in the releases to accommodate that water.”

To put the 160,000 cubic feet per second release in perspective, that’s enough water being released per second from Gavins Point to supply nine average homes for a year.  That’s a lot of power flowing through Gavins Point, Becker said.

“That’s why we have a hydroelectric power plant,” Becker said.  “Then the water that comes through the spillway and runs into 54 energy dissipaters, which are concrete columns, which are used to slow down that water so it doesn’t have the erosive power downstream,” Becker said.

As many have asked for, Becker says there will likely be several reviews of how the corps handled this year’s flood once the flooding is over.

“There’s been public comment to the same, that they believe this flood event deserves a total review,” Becker said.  “So it will get a total review, internally from the corps and probably externally as well, and I’m sure there will be lessons learned and things, you know, perhaps people want to do differently.”

Two people have already spent the night in jail in Doniphan County, Kansas for trespassing on the Elwood-Gladden levee, and officials are warning there could be more arrests.

Levee Board President Craig Sheppard says a lot of sightseers have been turned away, and he says a number of area law officers are keeping an eye out for the illegal gawkers.

A contractor working on some equipment spotted a small white car driving “way too fast” on the levee Tuesday afternoon.

Two people in the car did not stop right away, but when they did, they were arrested and booked into the Doniphan County Jail.

Sheriff Jerry Dubach says both were charged with criminal trespass and driving with an open container. Bond was set at $1,250 each. Michael P Russell, 50, gave officials the address of 610 Olive in St Joseph. The other suspect, Deborah J. DeSantiago, 49, who did not give an address and said she was homeless.

Both are due back in court July 5th, but are held in lieu of bond in the meantime in the Doniphan County Jail. Convictions on the trespassing charge, a Class-B misdemeanor, could lead to a six month jail term, a one thousand dollar fine, or both.

Sheppard says they’re trying to keep traffic off the levee because this flood-event is expected to last a long time. He says it’s dangerous to you, and to the officers and National Guard patrolling the levee.

“You just flat don’t need to be up here,” Sheppard said.

Sheppard says if you are caught on the levee, or trying to get in or out, you will be arrested, and you will go to jail.

The Corps of Engineers announced Tuesday it would open up the floodgates at Gavins Point Dam a little more: increasing releases to 160,000 cubic feet per second by Thursday.   Authorities blame heavy rains across South Dakota and Nebraska within the last week,  as much as six inches in some areas.

The additional water is expected to increase the river stages anywhere from six to nine inches in St Joseph. Levels will increase about four inches ( .3 to .4 of a foot) from Omaha to Rulo, Nebraska.

Estimates for Kansas City will go up by more than eight inches (.7 of a foot).  

The Corps and the National Weather Service are updating their prediction models, and all future estimates by both agencies will include the new flows.

The National Weather Service reports the actual stages will depend on inflows from tributaries. They estimate four to five days before the additional water arrives.  Officials say levee problems upstream could slow down the water’s progress.

Officials say a large heavy rain system impacted much of South Dakota and northern Nebraska over the last week, with as much as six inches of rain in some areas. The heavy rain resulted in high inflows into the Oahe, Big Bend, and Randall Reservoirs  in additional to Gavins Point.

The releases at Gavins Point are expected to rise to 155,000 cfs by Wednesday to the new peak of 160,000 cfs on Thursday June 23rd. Releases are expected to continue at the new peak through August.

About two hundred people turned out Tuesday evening to a meeting at Saint James Catholic Church, 5814 King Hill Avenue.   The gathering featured a Q&A with two representatives of the Corps of Engineers, Josh Marx, a natural disaster program manager for the Corps, and Eric Shumate, Chief of Water Management for the Kansas City District.  They were joined by levee district managers, firefighters,  senatorial aides and the Red Cross.

Marx painted an optimistic picture despite the increasing severity of the coming flood.

“We are well prepared,” he said, “the levees are in good shape.”

Marx held his ground on the cause of the current flooding, pointing to historic snow melt and historic rainfall in the upper basin.  “Historic precipitation is what put us where we are today.”

Hydrologist Eric Shumate defended operation of the levees since last year’s historic rain events in the region, and said they went by the book.

“Upstream reservoirs have been managed per the Master Manual. ”

“They’ve been monitoring conditions closely, they made adjustments as necessary, and continue to  monitor conditions and make adjustments, and evaluate, daily.”

They fielded questions ranging on subjects ranging from relief wells at Lake Contrary to rumors of dramatically higher releases at Gavins Point.

The levee board president from the south side clarified activities near Lake Contrary.  A reporter filled in the blanks on a persistent flood insurance question.  And an aide to U.S. Senator Roy Blunt says Blunt is in favor of re-opening the Master Manual to further scrutiny in Congress.

We have the introduction and opening remarks from Josh Marx of the Army Corps of Engineers:

Work continues on levee’s in northern Atchison County and a Black-hawk helicopter is once again helping to place sandbags.

This time, workers are working to support a levee along the U.S. Highway 136 in an attempt to re-open the highway soon, according to Atchison County Emergency Management.

Currently, no water is covering the roadway. It was closed earlier this week because if a breach would occur, it would take little time to cover the highway with water. Flood damage would also keep the highway closed longer.

The helicopter being used is landing on the highway and picking up large sandbags to place along the levee. There’s no word on how long that operation may take.

Atchison County Emergency Management continues to use Facebook as a tool to distribute information to the public.  The following pictures were posted to their Facebook page recently, For More, visit Atchison County 911 Facebook.

 

 

Golden Triangle Energy in Craig, Missouri is shutting down ethanol production in advance of rising floodwaters in Holt County.

Chairman Gene Millard tells us they were already facing a delivery backlog from two weeks ago, when the railroad shut down traffic between Kansas City and Omaha.  Now they’re working as fast as they can to get the product out of the area by truck.

They’re taking it to a rail shipping facility in the Kansas City area for delivery to customers across the country.  But time is running out, and Millard says they are up against the wall.

“It’s just a matter of how much time window do we have to get our remaining inventory trans-located to the rail shipout,” Millard said.  “That is projected to take at least five days in order to get 50, 60, 70 trailer loads from Craig down to Kansas City to get it off loaded onto the rail.”

Floodwaters are expected to inundate Craig by Thursday.  Evacuations were ordered beginning at noon Tuesday.

Millard says they are hopeful they can empty most of the product in their fermentation tanks before they lose electrical power.  He says the company must leave some product in those tanks so they don’t float away.

Millard says the plant was built at an elevation that would have survived the 1993 flood, but he says they are “right on the bubble.”

“If we lose access by road, then the whole party’s over.”

Millard says a few members of the staff live on the west side of the Missouri River.  Those people have been staying in travel trailers parked in nearby Mound City.  He says they have also rented a home in Mound City to house other staff members.

“We might have to use that house for office functions down the road,” Millard said.

 

Missouri Governor Jay Nixon told Northwest Missouri officials the state is looking into what would happen if the Corps of Engineers releases up to 200,000 cubic feet per second from the Gavins Point Dam.

The governor met with local officials Monday afternoon in St Joseph to discuss flood operations.  He was joined by Major General Stephen Danner and Col. Ron Replogle, Superintendent of the Missouri Highway Patrol.

State officials are in the process of drawing inundation maps based off a release of 200,000 cfs from Gavins Point.  However, the Corps of Engineers has not said they would reach that massive release of water, according to the Governor.

“Nobody has suggested anything,” Nixon said.  “We are trying to stay a week to 10 days ahead of whatever could happen and in that sense we are modeling on our side for 200,000.”

Currently, The Corps of Engineers are releasing approximately 151,500 cfs, according to the Governor.  The Corps of Engineers are dealing with the potential of running out of room to store water within the reservoir system as more rains are threatening.

The Governor once again was asked to address the potential of blowing a levee along the Missouri River.  He stated there were no plans to do any such thing.

When asked about the potential of flooding at Rosecrans and its future, the Governor said the base will come back from any flooding.

The men and women of Rosecrans and also the National Guard play a vital role during the flooding, Major General Stephen Danner said.

“We’re there to help good citizens and protect them from bad things,” Danner said.

Afterwards, Governor Nixon spoke with local media and had this to say about Rosecrans.

City officials in Craig Mo. have announced they have ordered an evacuation effective at noon Tuesday.

At that point, the towns roughly 300 residents will have 48 hours to grab their things and evacuate due to the potential of flood waters reaching the town.

If a breach does occur, construction workers along the levees told city officials it may take two or three days for the water to reach the town.  With the deterioration of levees, they claim a breach is likely.

The evacuation is a preventative matter to get people assistance who will need it now, City Project Manager Terry Eaton said.

“And the other concern is sight-seers and people getting in the road,” Eaton said.   “We got a lot of construction equipment here right now and it’s just a safety precaution that the less people in our road the better off we are at this time.”

City officials vow to continue to work on protecting the town, which is surrounded by three rivers.  The Missouri River, The Little Tarkio River and the Big Tarkio River.  A temporary levee was built around the town.

Storm sirens will sound at noon Tuesday and officials will go door-to-door to make sure everyone is aware of the precautionary evacuation order.  Despite the odds stacking up against staying dry, city officials remain hopeful the town will dodge a bullet.

“We survived 93, we think we might survive 2011,” Eaton said.