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Lawmaker worries northern Missouri’s flooding in recent years could impact Census numbers (AUDIO)

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(This is the second part of Brian Hauswirth’s two-part series on the status of the 2020 Census in Missouri)

A state lawmaker from northwest Missouri’s Carrollton is worried that the 2020 Census may miss residents who’ve been impacted by Missouri River flooding in recent years.

State Rep. Peggy McGaugh, R-Carrollton, speaks on the Missouri House floor in Jefferson City on May 13, 2020 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

State Rep. Peggy McGaugh, R-Carrollton, represents the Missouri House on the state 2020 complete count committee. Her sprawling district stretches from near Lexington to Mendon.

“The people that have been affected by the many floods we’ve had in the last ten years have been upended and maybe in some other part of their city, their county, the state, that just simply didn’t get reached,” McGaugh says.

While she’s pleased Missouri is trending at 90 percent-plus census completion, she wants to make sure that all residents are counted.

She says residents in the Missouri River sugar tree bottoms area were displaced for about seven months. Representative McGaugh’s district has seen flooding annually in recent years.

“The (39th) district here is so large and so rural that it would be difficult for maybe one person or a team to really, really go door-to-door and find these people,” says McGaugh.

McGaugh’s district takes about two hours to get from one side to the other.

She is pleased that the U.S. Census Bureau will continue its count through the end of October. McGaugh lives in the district of U.S. Rep. Sam Graves, R-Tarkio, a district with 36 counties that is larger than nine states.

“I worry about his (Congressman Graves’) area, the whole top of the state of Missouri that might get left alone and not get the money that the Census brings in for the roads and the infrastructure and the schools. I don’t want them to be forgotten,” McGaugh says.

During the 1990s, northern Missouri had three congressional districts. They were represented by then-U.S. Reps. Pat Danner, D-Smithville, Harold Volkmer, D-Hannibal, and Ike Skelton, D-Lexington. Today, northern Missouri has one district (Graves), with one or two counties being represented by U.S. Reps. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Kansas City, and Vicky Hartzler, R-Harrisonville.

That’s because of northern Missouri’s continued drop in population numbers.

The 2020 Census aims to count every person living in the United States and five U.S. territories. The complete count committee is working to ensure an accurate count of everyone living in Missouri to secure federal funding and fair representation for Missourians during the next decade.

McGaugh praises Missouri 2020 complete count committee chair Karen Best, saying the former Branson mayor has done an excellent job. Former Mayor Best notes this year’s Census has been unprecedented, because of COVID-19.

Former Mayor Best says the committee’s goal is to submit a final report to the governor by November 30. McGaugh says she looks forward to helping with the final draft of the report to the governor.

McGaugh also emphasizes the effort has been bipartisan, saying it’s crucial that all residents in traditionally Democratic St. Louis and Kansas City are counted as well. She says it’s about ensuring that Missouri gets fair representation in the U.S. House.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s full interview with State Rep. Peggy McGaugh, R-Carrollton, which was recorded on October 6, 2020:

Copyright © 2020 · Missourinet

NOAA forecasts another year of widespread river flooding, but not as severe as 2019

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From NOAA reports

NOAA forecasters predict widespread flooding this spring, but do not expect it to be as severe or prolonged overall as the historic floods in 2019. Major to moderate flooding is likely from the Northern Plains south to the Gulf Coast, with the most significant flood potential in parts of North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota.

NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center is forecasting above-average temperatures across the country this spring.

Kevin Low, a hydrologist with the Missouri Basin River Forecast Center, says this spring NOAA is anticipating minor to moderate flooding along the Missouri River from Nebraska City to the mouth of the river in St. Louis.

Forecasters expect above-average precipitation from the Northern Plains, southward through the lower Mississippi Valley.

Warmer-than-average temperatures are most likely from coast to coast this Spring.

Northern Missouri Congressman Graves focusing on flooding and levees (AUDIO)

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A congressman who represents north Missouri on Capitol Hill warns that northwest Missouri is still suffering from flooding, and that there’s a lot of damage to infrastructure.

U.S. Rep. Sam Graves, R-Tarkio, tours the MFA Rail facility near northwest Missouri’s Hamilton on October 8, 2018 (file photo courtesy of Congressman Graves’ office)

U.S. Rep. Sam Graves, R-Tarkio, traveled from his Atchison County farm to Jefferson City this week to file for re-election to his 11th term. Graves is the longest-serving Republican in Missouri’s congressional delegation. He’s also a dean in the delegation, along with U.S. Rep. Lacy Clay, D-St. Louis. Both were elected to Congress in 2000.

Congressman Graves spoke to Missourinet after he filed, reiterating that flooding and transportation are his top two priorities. He says House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, and other House Democrats have focused too much attention on impeachment.

“We haven’t worked on flood legislation, we have not worked on prescription drugs, we have not got an infrastructure bill because they’ve been spending all of their time with impeachment, and that’s all they seem to want to do,” Graves says.

Graves, the ranking Republican on the House Transportation Committee, says there are flood-damaged roads and bridges in northwest Missouri that still need to be rebuilt.

He’s critical of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, saying they don’t listen.

“It’s a management situation, that’s what it comes down to is how they manage the Missouri River,” Graves says. “And we’ve got people’s lives on the line, and their livelihoods and the farms and their communities.”

Congressman Graves and Governor Mike Parson (R) have both criticized the Corps. Parson and the governors of neighboring Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska have met with the Corps of Engineers three times to discuss what needs to be done differently in the future.

The governors have signed a four-state agreement to cooperate on issues relating to flood control and the Corps.

As for Graves, he wants to see changes in Corps plans.

“It’s very frustrating that the Corps doesn’t seem to want to to change,” says Graves. “And it’s like dragging them, kicking and screaming.”

Graves says flood control should be the Corps’ top priority for the Missouri River. He also notes the severe flooding that happened in 2019 in north-central Missouri’s Brunswick, which is in his district.

Severe flooding from the Grand River caused a railroad bridge to wash out in Brunswick, and it also damaged other infrastructure in the town of about 800.

The Missouri Farm Bureau says more than 1.4 million acres of farmland in the state went unplanted in 2019, due to flooding.

The state Department of Agriculture (MDA), the state Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Farm Bureau, the Missouri Levee and Drainage District Association and the Coalition to Protect the Missouri River will hold round table discussions Monday and Tuesday about flooding.

The meetings are designed to answer questions from farmers about 2019 flooding and to help them prepare for potential flooding this spring.

There will be two meetings on Monday in northwest Missouri: at 10 a.m. at the Atchison County Extension Building in Rock Port and at 2:30 p.m. at the East Hills Library in St. Joseph. Tuesday’s meetings will take place at 9 a.m. at the Knight and Rucker Banquet Hall in Brunswick and at 2:30 at the Corner restaurant in east-central Missouri’s Rhineland.

Graves was re-elected to his tenth term in 2018, defeating Democrat Henry Robert Martin with about 65 percent of the vote.

Four Democrats have already filed to challenge Graves. They are Kansas City’s Martin, Kansas City’s Ramona Farris, Canton’s Charles West and Platte City resident Gena Ross.

The sprawling sixth congressional district covers 36 northern Missouri counties, from the Missouri to the Mississippi River. It covers more square miles than nine U.S. states.

The district includes St. Joseph, Chillicothe, Bethany, Macon, Kirksville and Hannibal.

Click here to listen to the full three-minute interview between Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth and U.S. Rep. Sam Graves, R-Tarkio, which was recorded on February 25, 2020 at the Kirkpatrick Building in Jefferson City:

Copyright © 2020 · Missourinet

Missouri’s governor focusing on rural broadband, especially for schools (AUDIO)

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Governor Mike Parson (R) emphasized the importance of broadband in rural Missouri during a Jefferson City appearance on Tuesday, and is praising USDA’s announcement that the state will receive $61 million to expand it.

Missouri Governor Mike Parson delivers his State of the State Address on January 15, 2020 in Jefferson City, as House Speaker Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield, looks on (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

The governor discussed the issue, while addressing a few hundred Missouri Farm Bureau members at Jefferson City’s Capitol Plaza Hotel. While the Farm Bureau event was closed to the news media, Parson spoke with Missourinet after his presentation.

“If we can get electricity in every home, and we did that back years ago, we can get internet to everybody’s home to where they can be out there and be competitive,” Parson says.

One of the grants announced in late January by USDA is a $2.5 million grant to help the Green Hills Telephone Corporation expand its fiber network in northwest Missouri’s Caldwell and Livingston counties. That’s expected to help a fire district and two educational facilities.

Governor Parson has noted that there are about ten Missouri school districts that still don’t have broadband. The governor says broadband ties-in with education and his workforce development initiatives.

“We’ve got to make sure we got broadband available to our schools, to give those kids a fighting chance out there in today’s world in technology and everything,” says Parson.

U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt (R) also praises USDA’s announcement, calling it an important step toward ending what he calls the digital divide. Senator Blunt says one-third of rural Missourians lack access to broadband.

As for Governor Parson, he’s also emphasizing the importance of infrastructure, rural health care and the rural way of life.

“I always say the agriculture is so important to our state and what it means for the way of life for a lot of these people (Farm Bureau members), but really for what it means for everyday Missourians no matter where you’re from,” Parson says.

The governor is also concerned about possible flooding again this spring. He tells Missourinet he spoke to President Trump about the issue a few weeks ago, and that the president is engaged on the issue.

Parson’s proposed budget sets aside $4 million in disaster recovery funds.

Agriculture is an $88 billion industry in Missouri. The state has about 100,000 farms.

Click here to listen to the full three-minute interview between Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth and Governor Mike Parson (R), which was recorded on February 18, 2020 at Jefferson City’s Capitol Plaza Hotel:

Copyright © 2020 · Missourinet

Repair of broken levee system in northwest Missouri hindered by weather

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By BRENT MARTIN, St. Joseph Post

Repair of the broken levee system along the Missouri River has been slow going, as a wet fall and a cold winter has delayed assessment of the damage and construction work.

Emergency Management Specialist Mike Dulin with the Kansas City District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says it has been especially slow going north of St. Joseph.

“But in that Holt County area north of St. Joe it’s been a real challenge getting out there and just completing our damage assessments,” Dulin tells St. Joseph Post.

Dulin says even survey crews have had difficulty getting to some levees to assess the damage.

“With everything soggy and frozen the way it is it’s a real challenge to complete those damage assessments,” according to Dulin.

Floodwaters from a swollen Missouri River spilled over the river banks, cutting a path of destruction in northwest Missouri and northeast Kansas truly breathtaking in scope.

“So, overall, we’re looking at a thousand miles of levee system on both sides of the Missouri River and some levees over in Kansas, too,” Dulin says. “I mean, it’s everything, from sod kill and erosion, scour, all the way to breaches being the worst case.”

The Kansas City District of the Corps is working on 67 repair projects, with damage estimated at $100 million. Floodwaters badly damaged 20 federal levees and took out many non-federal levees that are eligible to receive federal money for repairs. That doesn’t even count the damage done to the levee system north of Holt County, from Atchison County to Omaha, which likely will top the KC District total, according to Dulin.

The Corps of Engineers has been able to receive the amount of money needed to make repairs if the weather and conditions finally allow repair to proceed.

Dulin says it has been some time since the Corps faced such a daunting challenge.

“This is the largest levee rehab effort that we’ve seen since 1993,” Dulin says. “So, there’s a very real possibility this could take us up to two years to complete all repairs. So, obviously some repairs will be done much sooner than that, but to fix everything it could take us until the spring of 2021.”

Pork leader predicts trade deals will be big for Missouri producers (AUDIO)

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About 1,000 people from across the state have traveled to Columbia for the 2020 Missouri Pork Expo, which wraps up Wednesday afternoon. Missouri Pork Association (MPA) Executive Vice President Don Nikodim notes the state’s pork industry continues to grow. He says it contributes about $1.6 billion annually to the state’s economy.

The Pork Place restaurant is operated by the Missouri Pork Association. It’s located on the Missouri State Fairgrounds in Sedalia (2019 file photo courtesy of Missouri Pork Association)

“We’re seeing a considerable amount of growth across the board here in Missouri, have for the last several years,” Nikodim says. “I know there’s a lot of production facilities slated to be built.”

Nikodim says recent trade agreements are an opportunity for growth in the state’s pork industry. The theme of this year’s conference at the Holiday Inn Executive Center is “Competing Globally.”

“I think one trade agreement that didn’t get as much attention as maybe it should have is the Japan trade agreement. It’s really big for our industry,” says Nikodim.

Nikodim is also excited about USMCA, which is the free trade agreement between the United States, Mexico and Canada.

He notes the China agreement is in the early stages. He notes China is dealing with the coronavirus, and that there are huge problems in China with dock workers.

Closer to home, Nikodim says flooding this past year has impacted some of his producers across the state.

“Some of the farms in the (river) bottoms, it’s been a real hassle for them,” Nikodim says. “We have a few producers that do that, and it was just a tough year on the crop guys that had to be engaged in that.”

Despite flooding, Nikodim says there has been a good corn crop and ample feed supply for Missouri pork producers.

Nikodim is also pleased that many 4H and FFA students are at the conference. He notes the Missouri Pork Association has always supported the youth groups.

The average age of a Missouri farmer is 58, and Governor Mike Parson has credited the state’s pork industry for helping young people stay on the farm.

The governor proclaimed October as “Pork Month” in Missouri. Governor Parson notes more than 3.5 million hogs are raised in Missouri, and that the Missouri’s pork industry ranks sixth in the nation.

The trade show, which took place on Tuesday, has gotten bigger every year. A Missourinet reporter walking through the Expo Center saw exhibitor booths all the way near the hotel doors.

Click here to listen to the full interview between Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth and Missouri Pork Association (MPA) Executive Vice President Don Nikodim, which was recorded on February 11, 2020 at Columbia’s Holiday Inn Executive Center:

Copyright © 2020 · Missourinet

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