Kansas cities evacuated amidst floods on the Missouri River



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KANSAS CITY, MONTH (AP) – Latest news about the Midwest Floods (local time):

16h

The wave of this year's floods in the Midwest is the worst ever recorded at three Nebraska locations.

National Meteorological Service hydrologist Kevin Low said on a conference call Friday that the Missouri River had hit record levels in Plattsmouth, Nebraska and Brownville. He broke a record near record at several other places, including St. Joseph, Missouri, where the river reached 32.02 feet (9.76 meters) on Friday, an inch from the record of 32.07 feet (9.77 meters) established during the 1993 historic flood.

The ridges continue to arrive further south and east on the Missouri River, but floods in Kansas City and other parts of Missouri should not be as severe.

Officials from the US Army Corps of Engineers said it was too early to start assessing the total damage caused by the flood. While the ridges of Nebraska, southwestern Iowa and northwestern Missouri are largely overwhelmed, the water will remain high for several days.

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1:30 p.m.

Authorities are evacuating a lowland area of ​​St. Joseph, Missouri, while the Missouri River is at record levels.

Missouri State Highway Patrol Sgt. Jake Angle said the evacuation started late Friday morning in the Lake Contrary area. The river digs into the city at levels below those reached during the historic floods of 1993. More than 100 people are putting sandbags on the dike that protects the Missouri Air National Guard and the airport Rosencrans.

On the other side of the river, about 1,200 residents of the city of Elwood, Kansas, were asked to leave.

Kansas City Power & Light explained that because of the flood, teams have cut off the power of some customers in five communities, including St. Joseph, which has about 75,000 residents.

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11h

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds said the recent floods in the state have caused damage estimated at $ 1.6 billion.

Reynolds sent a letter asking President Donald Trump to promptly release a catastrophe declaration for 57 Iowa counties severely affected by the floods, including along the Missouri River.

Flooding along the river has damaged thousands of homes and flooded farmland in several Midwestern states.

Reynolds says Iowa will need additional federal recovery assistance to deal with the damage and losses associated with agriculture, business, housing and dikes.

Damage estimates indicate that flooding that began last week caused $ 417 million in damage to lightly damaged homes and $ 64 million in badly damaged homes.

The companies have suffered damages amounting to $ 300 million, while the damage to agriculture is estimated at $ 214 million. Additional damage is caused to the dikes.

Floods in Nebraska caused damage estimated at $ 1.4 billion. The state received Thursday approval from Trump's federal disaster assistance.

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10:25

More and more cities are evacuating under the flood of the Missouri River through damaged dikes.

The National Weather Service said the river is expected to reach a peak on Friday at levels nearly below those reached during the 1993 historic floods in Atchison, Kansas and St. Joseph, Missouri.

About 1,200 residents of the city of Elwood, Kansas, were asked to leave and the governor eased restrictions on large vehicles carrying relief supplies. On the other side of the river, parts of an industrial area of ​​St. Joseph were flooded with water.

But no major flood is expected downstream in Kansas City.



The Missouri River has swelled after heavy rains and melting snow this month. The floods were blamed on three people, thousands of homes in Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri, and agriculture.

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