MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG
Mo. Digital News
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Mo. Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG
Mo. Digital News
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Mo. Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
JEFFERSON CITY - With continued wet weather and extensive flooding north of Missouri this spring, Missouri's State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) is warning of the possibility of extensive flooding later this year.
"The national weather service indicated that there is a strong possibility for flooding", said Suzie Stonner, public information officer of SEMA.
According to Stonner, the amount of flooding Missouri might see depends on the speed at which the snow melts in the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains, on how high the Missouri river is, if there will be a lot of rainfall in the next months and if the ground can absorb more water.
"If all these factors come together, there is the possibility of a big flood", Stonner warned.
In case a flood occurs, the confluence of the Missouri and the Mississippi Rivers in the St. Louis area and the area where the Mississippi and the Ohio meet in the southeast corner of the state will be hit hardest, Stonner pointed out.
In order to avert a flood, the Army Corps of Engineers has been releasing water from the reservoirs at the head waters of the Missouri since January to make room for the incoming snow melt water.
SEMA has begun alerting citizens in low lying areas to equipe themselves with enough supplies in case an evacuation would become necessary.
In addition, SEMA is encouraging home owners to buy flood insurance. "Regular insurance does not cover water damages", warns Stonner. "Also, there is a 30 day waiting period on flood insurance", a circumstance uninsured home owners should be aware of, she said.
After extensive flooding in 1993 and 1995, the agency began taking preventive action to prepare people better for a possible flood.
The agency is offering "Expedient flood fight classes" to public works people and those who would supervise sand bagging efforts. Suzie Stonner warned that there is "a right and a wrong way to sand bagging." For instance, if sand bags are set up directly against the house wall, the house might collapse under the pressure of the water-soaked bags.
Stonner stressed that the agency cannot predict a flood with 100% certainty, but said that "We have some warning and got the word out."
Besides these immediate measures, the State Emergency Management Agency as well as the Conservation Department have been conducting programs to ease the impact of flooding over the last few years by restoring the river's natural environment.
The loss of more than 90% of natural wetlands through urban development and river corrections has been identified as a major cause for the increase of floods seen over the past years, according to the Natural Resources Department.
While the SEMA has bought about 4000 properties in 48 communities along the Mississippi and the Missouri since 1994 in order to relocate them and turn the area into parks or recreational facilities that face no great damage from floods, the Conservation Department is trying to reestablish wetlands to give the river "a place to go" in case of high water.
Wetland function as "safety valves" that release excess water from the river, explained Gordon Farabee, policy analyst of the Department of Conservation.
So far 9000 acres have been bought. Another 20,000 acres will be acquired over the next five years at a cost of $10 million.
According to Farabee, creating more wetlands would not only avert floods but would also create new fish and wildlife habitats.
While national and state agencies are preparing to handle a possible big flood, legislators met with experts of several state agencies to discuss measures to be taken in order to protect wetlands along both the Mississippi and Missouri rivers without endangering land development.
The committee mainly discussed which effects restrictions on the development of infrastructure along the river would have on the constituents.