The flooding on the Missouri River is officially over, according to an announcement this week by the Corps of Engineers in the Kansas City District.
Last Wednesday, all Missouri River stages within the district dropped below flood stage for the first time since March 13, according to a district spokesman. Flooding had continued in the St. Joseph, Missouri, area through early December. The forecast calls for the water levels to continue to decrease.
The Kansas City district, including the area surrounding Kansas City, was continuously engaged in fighting flooding for 279 days in 2019, possibly the longest period of flooding in one year that the district has seen.
Wyandotte County saw some flooding along the Missouri River in both the spring and the fall of 2019, but more severe flooding was to the north and east of Wyandotte County.
Now that the flood is officially over, levee sponsors have until Jan. 15, 2020, to submit a written request for rehabilitation assistance, according to corps officials. The district said it is not necessary to send in a request if one has already been submitted for this flood event.
The corps continues its efforts to complete a temporary emergency flood measure at Mill Creek in Holt County, Missouri, where rock placement is expected to be completed Jan. 15. After the rock is in place, the district and local levee sponsor will jointly place HESCOs, ballast laden containers in steel mesh, to complete the temporary protection effort by late January to early February.
For more information about the 2019 flooding, and filing for rehabilitation assistance, visit https://www.nwk.usace.army.mil/Media/News-Releases/Article/2040686/corps-in-kansas-city-declares-end-to-2019-flood-event-on-missouri-river/.