Eastern half of state escapes most flooding

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The Missouri River neared its highest point in the capital city Saturday, and forecasters said it wasn't nearly as bad as feared a few days earlier.

The river reached about 29 feet Saturday morning, about 6 feet above flood stage. That was high enough to flood stretches of the Katy Trail and to cover some low-lying roads and nearly 1,400 acres of farmland.

But it was not as dire as previous predictions of a 34-foot peak that could have wiped out many farmers' crops and inundated the Jefferson City Airport. It was business as usual at the airport Saturday, although there was a sign tacked to a door advising those returning rental cars to go elsewhere because of the anticipated flood.

In north-central Missouri, Chariton County's emergency coordinator reported a major break in a levee Friday near Triplett.

The coordinator, Brad Morrison, told a state emergency briefing that up to a 100-foot section of levee blew out, and people were sandbagging through the night and continuing Saturday. About 3,000 acres of farmland was flooded, but no one was hurt, and there aren't many homes in the region, state officials said.

Floodwaters kept U.S. 24 west of Brunswick closed, but U.S. 65 north of Carrollton was reopening as waters had receded Saturday, state officials said.

Near Sumner, the Grand River rose to near 40 feet but had fallen slightly by Saturday morning and should keep dropping, the weather service said. Still, it was not expected to fall below flood stage of 26 feet until Tuesday.

"They're getting some impact to the homes," National Weather Service hydrologist Mark Fuchs said. "They may be escaping the worst of it."

In 1993 the river at Sumner reached 42.5 feet, but nearly 40 feet marks the second-highest level going back at least 60 years, the weather service said.

Also, a rail line serving a Chillicothe industrial park was damaged and shut down, and it wasn't clear when it would reopen, state emergency management spokesman Brian Hauswirth said.

Fuchs, in St. Louis, said levee breaks in the western part of the state earlier this week relieved the pressure and the height of the water as the river peak moved eastward.

"The bigger effects do not look like they're going to happen," Fuchs said. "Overall, this is a decent little flood but not anything to get real excited about. We're looking at largely minor inconveniences throughout the Missouri River east of Jefferson City."

Gov. Matt Blunt toured six mid-Missouri counties by Black Hawk helicopter for about an hour to survey flood damage, the second time in a week he has flown around to assess the impact of swollen rivers and streams.

Damage in Osage County was particularly striking, with Osage River floodwaters going far beyond their banks and roads being washed away or dead-ending into the river. Some homes were also surrounded by water.

The helicopter tour also showed much low-lying land under water and only the tops of trees visible above the swollen river.

Blunt said the worst of the damage remained the northwest corner of the state, hit earlier in the week, and that overall agriculture losses were the biggest concern. But he was thankful the flooding didn't reach 1993 levels.

"It's pretty bad," he said just after leaving the helicopter. "We were planning on a lot worse than this."

Northwest Missouri's Andrew County has begun tallying damage, and found four homes and a business were destroyed by floodwaters, and another 74 homes were damaged.

Blunt has already asked for damage assessments in 17 counties and said more could be added.

The river was expected to peak in St. Charles on Monday at 29.6 feet. The river could start topping some levees at 34 feet, Fuchs said.

During the massive 1993 flood, the river reached about 40 feet.

In Jefferson City, Dennis Heckman and his family came to a lookout point, which had a steady stream of visitors, to check out the river on a clear and sunny afternoon.

Heckman also lived there in 1993 and said the levee breaks upriver and the buyouts of low-lying homes made a big difference this time around.

"They learned their lessons," said Heckman, a hydrologic engineer for the state Transportation Department. "Water's going to a lot of the same places, but it's not doing hardly any damage because the houses are all gone."

The state emergency center, activated Monday, returned to normal Saturday, indicating officials thought the height of the crisis had passed.

About 100 National Guard troops had been called up to help with the flooding, but all have been released.

Dry, warm weather was expected across Missouri for the next couple days, which should help keep rivers from running even higher.