The state Natural Resources Conservation Service has issued a local disaster declaration for five northwest Missouri counties affected by recent Missouri River flooding. Conservation Engineer Marty Comstock tells Brownfield Ag News the eligible counties for Emergency Watershed Protection Program aid are Andrew, Atchison, Buchanan, Holt and Platte.
“Emergency Watershed Program, the EWP, is USDA/NRCS’s recovery program from natural disasters when they occur. And that’s what we’ve got up in northwest Missouri in the Missouri River system, of course, with that flooding recently that’s still ongoing,” he says.
“The five are what we intend to include as a local disaster and that was declared by our state conservationist for NRCS, J.R. Flores. He did that because there has not yet been a presidential declaration made for these counties in Missouri,” says Comstock.
Federal assistance is given for restoring certain levees, removal of log jams, sediment removal from drainage ditches and streambank stabilization.
Governor Mike Parson says he expects to request a federal disaster declaration next week. Parson says damage assessments have been done or will soon be done in Andrew, Atchison, Buchanan, Carroll, Chariton, Holt, Mississippi, New Madrid, Pemiscot, Perry, Platte, Ray, Ste. Genevieve and Scott counties. Continuing high water levels are preventing damage assessments in Cape Girardeau and Pike counties but Parson says assessments will happen there as soon as possible.
By Julie Harker of Brownfield Ag News
