Flooding plagues parts of Northwest Missouri
Photo by Todd Weddle / St. Joseph News-Press / Purchase this photo
City of St. Joseph employees fill sandbags Friday afternoon in preparation for rising floodwaters. The Missouri River is expected to crest at 24.5 feet today in St. Joseph. Flood stage is 17 feet.
Andrew Fritzinger’s beloved community watched muddy water creep toward their homes Friday.
The Nodaway, Mo., residents live a mile from the Missouri River and on the banks of the Nodaway River, which on Friday had no banks.
“No matter what you do, you can’t keep the river from rising,” Mr. Fritzinger said, shrugging his shoulders.
Like hundreds of other area residents who enjoy life by the water, Mr. Fritzinger could do nothing but watch Friday and hope the water didn’t get any higher. Regardless, he’s not trading for higher ground despite the threat.
“You can’t beat this,” he said of living near the Nodaway River. “Everybody down here is nice. You don’t have crime, and you can go fishing everyday. The flooding is just part of it.”
Leland and Felecia Diggs own property near the Nodaway River, too. Last year’s flood cost them two weeks of hard work cleaning out mud from their home. The couple gathered with friends on a bridge overlooking the community Friday as waters rose higher and higher.
“Just the work involved,” Mr. Diggs said of what goes through his mind when the rivers start to rise, “that and the mess.”
The scene is almost old hat in Rulo, Neb., a portion of which sits low on the Missouri River flood plain. Connie Zeigler gazed across 100 yards of water to Camp Rulo River Club, which she manages.
The club is built on a slight hill, and with the river level at 23 feet Friday afternoon, it was just out of reach of the murky floodwater. But when the water recedes, it will reveal an expanse of muck.
“It just makes me sick,” she said of the “slop and everything, the stink, we’ve got to get rid of it.”
June is her busiest month with wedding receptions booked through every weekend. This weekend’s plans are certainly derailed, she said.
Four miles east of Rulo, residents at Big Lake, Mo., have waited anxiously for the river to bite or stop barking. Crops in the area are flooded and the lake is brimming. But residents were dry Friday.
Missouri River levels reached 23.5 feet in Rulo, Neb., Friday afternoon. A couple of adventurers tried to drive their Toyota through an area near the Camp Rulo River Club before the engine flooded. They walked back to dry land.
“If the levee gives out we’ll be in the same place we were last year,” said Prop In Bar and Grill owner Josh Triggs. Last year’s floodwaters crested 4.5 feet up the walls of his business, which sits yards from the shore. “Most everybody is moving stuff out as a precaution.”
At the Missouri Air National Guard, squadron commanders have been notified that the river is rising and told to plan for the worst even though they don’t think it will happen.
“I much prefer to be overly conservative in situations like this,” said Col. Steve Cotter, the commander of the 139th Airlift Wing based at Rosecrans Memorial Airport.
The Kansas Air National Guard unit at Topeka, Kan., has been notified that the Wing’s cargo planes may have to fly there if the area floods, Mr. Cotter said. Two planes, in hangars for regularly scheduled maintenance, would be towed to the north end of Rosecrans since it would be impossible to return them to flight status at this time, he said.
That area is high enough that it didn’t flood in 1993.
The Missouri River is expected to crest at 24.5 feet early today in St. Joseph, the National Weather Service said, revised downward from a previous estimate of 26.9 feet. Flood stage is 17 feet.
The 102 River is expected to crest at 21.8 feet at Rosendale (flood stage is 18 feet). The 102 River reached 26.11 feet Friday in Maryille (flood stage is 18 feet).
The Tarkio River reached 25.5 feet in Fairfax on Friday. Flood stage is 17 feet.
Marshall White contributed to this story. He can be reached at marshall@npgco.com. Jimmy Myers can be reached at jimmym@npgco.com.
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Photo by Todd Weddle / St. Joseph News-Press / Purchase this photo
As floodwaters continue rise, people left their vehicles to get a closer look at the Missouri river Friday afternoon at the French Bottoms Conservation Area. River levels are expected to crest today.
Local preparations
St. Joseph and Elwood, Kan., aren’t initiating emergency flood plans, as early predictions of a 26.9-foot river crest subsided Friday.
As of late Friday, Missouri River stages in St. Joseph were trending nearly two feet behind the National Weather Service’s earlier crest predictions. Also, the NWS changed its predicted crest from 1 a.m. Sunday to mid-morning today, which reduces the chance of any surprise storms.
The city of St. Joseph has a sandbag operation ready and pumps installed at the sewer treatment plant, but it doesn’t plan on using them, said Public Works Director Bruce Woody. Mr. Woody wasn’t planning on calling in extra crews today, as the river isn’t expected to get near the city’s problem level of 27 feet.
In Elwood, officials are also only monitoring the situation. Mayor Lawrence Mays urged people not to panic, as the data indicated the crest should be nothing more than a normal spring rise.
— Compiled by Joe Blumberg