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Corps of engineers pledges to work with states on flooding factors

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An officer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says the corps is receptive to input from the states in assessing what went wrong this year to spawn the widespread flooding in the lower Missouri River basin.

Officials from Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, and Iowa are demanding more input into the management of the Missouri River and protection from future flooding.

Governor Mike Parson and some key members of Congress from Missouri have been critical of the corp’s priorities in managing the watersheds that affect their state.

Planning Section Chief John Grothaus in the Corps’ Kansas City office says there are lessons to be learned from this year’s floods.

READ MORE of the story from our affiliate KFEQ.

 

Mississippi River flood waters receding in Hannibal, northeast Missouri must assess damage

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Riggs (right) with Mayor James Hark and Gov. Mike Parson (far left) during a recent disaster briefing

The Mississippi River has been receding in Hannibal, where the levee held and the town was protected. The river topped at one foot shy of the record flooding in 1993.

After hundreds of volunteers, National Guard troops and inmates helped flood-threatened areas in northeastern Missouri, residents are expressing their thanks and relief.  (See coverage from TV partner WGEM)

Now the next step: the damage must be assessed and cleaned up. State Representative Louis Riggs, R-Hannibal, tells Missourinet “the damages are considerable.”

“The cleanup itself is the easy part, assessing the damage is not.”

This will be considered the second major flooding event for the state, and a second, separate disaster declaration and federal aid request.

“The process itself is rather burdensome,” Riggs says, “and involves crunching numbers, authenticating them and six to nine months, even up to a year.”

For farmers, the harvest is missed or cannot get down the river.

River traffic is slowly returning, but not the most important water transportation to this area: barges to carry grain to market.

“I have not seen any barges on the Mississippi now for months, Riggs says.  “Hundreds of thousands of some of the best acreage in the world will not be producing this year so that is one set of damages to sort out.”

In the meantime, Riggs and Hannibal residents are looking to the river to relinquish some ground for something to celebrate.

“We’ve been told that we can expect to be down to normal flood stage as early as June 29, depending on rainfall, so probably close to July 1. July 4th is the biggest event of the year, so it would be nice to have our riverfront back by then,” Riggs adds.

More than 300 roads closed in flooding across Missouri (Links to maps)

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“Every region of our state is affected by flooding,” says Becky Allmeroth, the Missouri Department of Transportation’s Chief Safety and Operations Officer.

And conditions are changing rapidly.

There are currently more than 300 roads in Missouri that are closed due to flooding, including:

  • Interstate 29 at the Missouri/Iowa border due to flooding in Iowa
  • U.S. Route 54 at Louisiana
  • U.S. Route 36 west of Bevier at the Chariton River in Macon County
  • I-29 traffic is being rerouted at U.S. Route 71 (mile marker 57). Motorists should expect delays and should choose a different route at their earliest possible turn-off point. I-29 detour information is as follows:  Kansas City area thru traffic – use I-35 to Iowa. St. Joseph area thru traffic – use U.S. Route 71 north
    Local traffic is able to utilize I-29 to reach their homes and businesses by either going north on U.S. Route 71 and west on U.S. Route 59 or northbound I-229 to northbound I-29.
  • Amtrak’s Missouri River Runner train service has also been suspended until further notice.

Link to the Traveler Information Map

Link to the Current Flood Information list

Governor Parson activates National Guard in storm recovery and preparation

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From the Governor’s Office

Governor Mike Parson today activated the Missouri National Guard as the state continues to respond to damage from flooding, tornadoes, and severe storms — while still under the threat of additional flooding and severe storms this week.

Governor Parson said in a press release, “Missouri has been battling historic flooding since March, which is depleting local resources, and now flooding conditions in many parts of the state are only getting worse. In addition, communities from Carl Junction to Jefferson City are facing the challenge of recovering from tornadoes and severe storms, further challenging civilian resources. The Guard has demonstrated its capabilities in response to natural disasters across Missouri, and I know they’ll make a difference at this critical time.”

Guard units will be deployed to support Chariton County, by sandbagging to reinforce a stressed levee near Brunswick. The Guard will also be staging and utilizing high-water vehicles to support flood response operations in Jefferson City.

Governor Parson says additional severe storms are possible for parts of Missouri on Memorial Day, and there is an elevated risk of potentially damaging severe storms for much of the state on Tuesday, May 28.

 

Interstate 29 open again in Northwest Missouri

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Compiled with information from Missouri Department of Transportation

Interstate 29 reopened today to all traffic between Exit 56 and the Iowa state line. The roadway has been closed since late March for massive flooding.

According to MoDot, the closure on the Missouri side was extended, with the exception of local traffic accessing their homes and businesses, until the Iowa Department of Transportation was able to reopen its section of I-29 Wednesday morning.

There are possible delays approximately eight miles north of the Missouri border, where traffic moves head-to-head with a 12-foot width restriction in place. Loads larger than those dimensions must use an alternate route.

Many other routes throughout the region remain flooded, both in Missouri and Iowa. Travelers do not have access to several roads west of I-29 in Atchison and Holt counties due to flooding and damage. These include U.S. Routes 159 and 136, commonly referred to as the Rulo and Brownville Missouri River Crossings, which remain closed.

For updated information regarding route restoration and flooding, visit the Northwest Missouri Flooding webpage and interactive map.

Governors of Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska meet with Army Corps officials to discuss flood-prevention

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Three governors feeling the pain of major flooding recently are calling on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to change its management of the Missouri River. The governors of Missouri, Nebraska and Iowa met Wednesday in Iowa with Corps and Federal Emergency Management officials to talk about growing flooding problems. At a press conference Wednesday afternoon in Council Bluffs, Governor Mike Parson says something needs to change.

Three governors at meeting with Army Corps and FEMA officials (photo from @GovParsonMO twitter account)

“For far too long, we’ve had these incidents occur and we’ve had meeting after meeting, but it seems to be the same results all the time. I think it’s time that we need some straight up answers from the Corps of Engineers of how they’re managing the river,” says Parson.

Northwest and southeast Missouri have especially been hit hard by recent flooding. Parson has made a couple of trips to northwest Missouri to view the damage. About half of Nebraska has been devastated by flood waters.

“First of all, we’ve got to find out just kind of what happened. I think we are still looking for those answers,” says Parson. “But more importantly, what can we do in the short-term and what can we do in the long-term. We’re still not out of the woods yet. We still have got water coming out, snow melt and ice coming out, plus spring rains that could really affect us.”

Parson, a Republican, says the management of the river is key to the citizens of each state.

“When you look at the states that are involved here of the Missouri River, it has a huge impact on the United States of what it is we do,” Parson says. “We are totally dependent on the management of those rivers for a lot of reasons. When you talk about that livelihood, that economic development side of it, it is really centered around the management of the rivers. That affects every one of us and the people of our states and the economy of our states. That’s really how important this is.”

From left to right, Governors Parson of Missouri, Ricketts of Nebraska & Reynolds of Iowa (Photo from @GovRicketts Twitter account)

He says there need to be other solutions to prevent further flooding issues.

“You look at the reservoir situation. Can we have more reservoir space to be able to handle this water that we know is going to be coming here every year? Can we build maybe more levees,” asks Parson. “But I think more importantly, does the state take more of an active role in these decisions instead of just leaving it up to one agency? I think the states will have to take more of a role in the management of the river and the Corps is going to have to work with us from a different perspective of what we’ve done than in the past.”

Last Friday, Parson signed an executive order giving the Missouri Department of Natural Resources some flexibility in easing requirements during and after recent Missouri flooding.

He says river management needs to get back to the basics by prioritizing flooding and safety.

Travel problems prevented the governor of Kansas from attending the gathering, but she plans to be part of the next meeting in three weeks.

Copyright © 2019 · Missourinet

Missouri Congressman Graves: flooding worse than in 1993

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Photo courtesy of KMA News in Shenandoah, Iowa

Northern Missouri Congressman Sam Graves is concerned about long-range effects of flooding underway in his region. Many people are comparing this disaster to the epic 2011 Missouri River flooding. The Tarkio Republican tells Missourinet affiliate KMA in Shenandoah, Iowa this event is worse than the flood of 1993.

To view the story, click here.

Flooding causes major roadblocks for Missouri farmers

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Record-breaking flooding expected in northwest Missouri will be felt by farmers for months. Missouri Farm Bureau President Blake Hurst tells Missourinet the damage to the infrastructure will be a struggle.

Flooding causes major roadblocks for Missouri farmers

“The difficulties in travel. The difficulties in moving grain, moving fertilizer, moving seed. We have visited with several people that had seed stored over there for the spring season. They had to move it out,” he says. “It will be hard to get fertilizer to northwest Missouri from the west.”

Hurst has farm land in Atchison County’s Tarkio. He says his land luckily has not been damaged but 20 miles down the road near Rock Port is a different story.

“It will be hard, a lot of us deliver grain to a big elevator over there west of Rockport that sits on the bottom,” Hurst says. “They’re not going to have any way to get grain away. The roads are going to be washed out. The railroads are going to be washed out.”

The Missouri Department of Transportation says Interstate 29 remains closed from the Missouri/Iowa border all the way to St. Joseph.

Hurst says the flood event is worse for farmers than the 2011 flood.

“One of the things that happened this time, which I think is a little unique and really kind of frightening is that this happened without warning,” says Hurst. “In 2011, as bad as that was, the farmers over there had some time to get grain out, to get their machinery to higher ground.”

Hurst thinks most area farmers were able to get their tractors and combines to higher ground but not their grain.

“Particularly soybeans, when they come in contact with water, they swell up. The steel bins that they’re stored in will literally just split along the sides of the bins and just collapse. We’re going to see that happen all up and down that Missouri River bottom,” he says.

Some area farmers will have to wait and see how the flooding problems impact their planting season. Hurst says most of the area affected is crop land – not cattle ground.

Copyright © 2019 · Missourinet

Missouri flooding update: road outage list, governor warns of water dangers

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There are 104 roads closed because of flooding. Access the entire list here. Also check the MoDOT Traveler Information Map for road closures at traveler.modot.org/map.

MoDOT continues to work with Nebraska and Iowa to provide alternate routes while major roads are closed, including I-29 near Rock Port. Northbound I-29 traffic into Iowa is being detoured at I-35 in Kansas City, where travelers will continue north on I-35 into Iowa.

From Des Moines, travelers will drive west on I-80 and continue onto I-680 to connect back with I-29 near the Council Bluffs/Omaha metro area in Iowa.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol has additional marine operations troopers and swift-water rescue equipment in northwest Missouri. The patrol conducted three swift water rescues in Holt County over the weekend and troopers are going house-to-house in Watson, Missouri, after the levee breach on the Nishnabotna River.

Rhonda Wiley, Emergency Management Coordinator for Atchison County says some people are not taking seriously the dangers of moving water. “Part of the problem is from people who are not from this area, that are rerouting through our area. Even though they have had to pass barricades, and pass detour signs. They just keep coming out to where they’re trying to find a way around to get to Nebraska, to get to Omaha.”

Governor Mike Parson urges Missourians to use caution around floodwater as Missouri River levels near cresting at major flood stage in some Missouri communities. Rain will move into the western part of the state tonight through Wednesday morning but is expected to have minimal effect on current river levels.

He cautioned that despite Missouri River crests this week, flooding will remain a hazard well into the spring because of a combination of additional melting now from the north and saturated ground.

According to a press release, the Missouri Emergency Management Agency assisted the city of St. Joseph with recruiting volunteers for sandbagging efforts with the coordination of AmeriCorps St. Louis, Missouri Adventist Community Services, Missouri Baptist Disaster Relief, and the Missouri Department of Corrections.

Inmates from the Women’s Eastern Reception, Diagnostic & Correctional Center have been helping with sandbagging in the northeastern town of Clarksville along the Mississippi River.

In Holt County, a water treatment facility is shut down operations because of flooding. The Salvation Army has provided bottled water to the area.

The governor’s office warns that standing water can carry infectious diseases and hide other hazards, including road damage, glass, and sewage. Storm drains can create an extremely dangerous situation for anyone caught in the current. Avoid walking through floodwater and keep children from playing in it.