KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Flood water topped at least 20 levees protecting low-lying communities along the Missouri River and other nearby streams, authorities said Wednesday.
Stretches of highway have been closed and thousands of people have been evacuated because of flooding caused by the huge weekend storm system that also devastated Greensburg, Kan., with a deadly tornado.
"It's a major flood," said National Weather Service meteorologist Suzanne Fortin. "It won't be a record breaker, but it will be in the top three."
Missouri Highway Patrol troopers were working 24-hour shifts near Big Lake, a village of about 150 permanent residents, which was inundated after nine levee breaks, said Lt. John Hotz.
Two levees were topped by high water during the night, authorities said. In Levacy, water from the Missouri River had started to encroach on the town and evacuations were under way Wednesday, Fortin said.
Authorities evacuated 300 to 400 residents Wednesday from the unincorporated town of Levasy as the Missouri River rose. At least a dozen homes were partially under water, a Jackson County dispatcher said Wednesday.
Big Lake, two miles from the Missouri River about 95 miles northwest of Kansas City, was inundated Tuesday.
"The town is a loss. At this time, we don't know, but it looks like that's what's going to happen," Mark Sitherwood, presiding commissioner of Holt County, said Tuesday.
Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt declared a state of emergency and mobilized National Guard troops to help. At least 19 Kansas counties declared local disaster emergencies.
Complete story found HERE
The rivers here in St Charles are expected to crest just shy of the record set in 1993 sometime either Monday or Tuesday.
I was here in St Charles in 1993 and have vivid memories of that flood. Not looking forward to the aftermath again...
I am hoping that unlike 1993 the waters recede quickly and that we don't have a lingering flood for 5 months like in 93 (it went from April to October).
Luckily my home THIS time isn't in the flood plain, but there are plenty of folks who are... keep them in your prayers...
Two shots from 1993 that I took:
Missouri River in north St Charles (that square is a public bathroom submerged)
This one is almost 7 miles in from the Mississippi River...