The U.S. Coast Guard and Army Corps of Engineers have closed the Missouri River to all boat and barge traffic indefinitely from St. Louis to north of Sioux City, Iowa.
Closure extended of Missouri River barge, boat traffic
Officials say vessel traffic may damage levees, or cause river water to flow over the top of levees. Drifting objects in the high water are also a hazard to boats.
The closure is expected to last for weeks. A higher volume of water is being released in the river from the Gavin’s Point Dam in South Dakota through at least the end of June.
Earlier this week, flooding problems led the U.S. Coast Guard to close barge and boat traffic from St. Louis to Kansas City.
(Reporting by Woody Gottburg, KSCJ, Sioux City)
