Spring Floods Inundate States Across the Central Plains
KANSAS CITY, Missouri (ENS) – Across the Central Plains states from Texas to North Dakota flood warnings are in effect, and flood waters now cover thousands of acres of agricultural land, state highways, and county roads.
Numerous and widespread rounds of showers and thunderstorms over the weekend led to flooding of the Missouri and Kansas Rivers throughout Kansas, Iowa, Missouri and Nebraska.
At least 10 agricultural levees have been topped. A major break of a levee on the Grand River in Carroll County, Missouri resulted in 15,000 acres being flooded. In Clay County, 70 homes were affected by flood waters.
The lower portion of the Missouri rose above flood stage today at St. Charles, Missouri and is expected to remain in flood for at least a week, falling below flood stage the weekend after next.
The Missouri River is expected to crest at 30.3 feet Friday afternoon at the Missouri state capital of Jefferson City, with major flooding beginning there today, including inundation of the airport and state highways. City officials are on hourly flood watch and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is standing by.
'According to the National Weather Service report we received this morning - most of the stages From above Napoleon, Missouri, to Rulo, Nebraska, have crested or are cresting and are expected to fall below flood stage by May 14,' said Jud Kneuvean, Levee Rehabilitation Inspection program manager for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City District.
The District's flood damage control system comprises 500 miles of levees maintained by numerous local levee districts. Some of the areas of concern are the Platte River north of Kansas City and the Grand River near Brunswick, but Kneuvean expressed confidence in the system as a whole.
'From Napoleon downstream stages are still very high and pose a threat to our levee systems however the system as a whole is performing very well and the federal levees within the Kansas City District are holding,' said Kneuvean.
The most recent river crest forecasts are generally a bit lower than previous forecasts, but major flooding is forecast at several points along the Arkansas River in Kansas, the Grand, Platte and Missouri rivers in Missouri, and the James River in South Dakota.
In Iowa, flooding and flash flooding continues to impact communities along the Missouri, Nishnabotna and Boyer Rivers, as well as tributaries and streams in western Iowa. Some highways are closed by flood waters.
In Kansas, 33 counties have declared emergencies as a result of flooding, and flood waters continue to impact communities along the Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas Rivers. State, county and local roads, culverts and low-water crossings have been washed out. Four breaks occurred along an agricultural dike in the Haven area on the Arkansas River.
In Illinois, areas of concern are Gale and Thebes in Alexander County along the Mississippi River.
Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry declared a state of emergency Monday for all 77 counties as a result of the tornadoes, torrential rainfall and flooding which have impacted the state since May 4. Over nine inches of rain has fallen in one spot near Tulsa, while amounts of three to over seven inches were common elsewhere in the central and eastern part of the state.
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