WHITE CLOUD, Kan. — Volunteers are heading to northeast Kansas and northwest Missouri as communities along the Missouri River frantically stack sandbags and shore up levees. The Missouri River is rising to near-historic levels as flooding in the Dakotas moves south. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers saing a levee at Hamburg, Iowa, partially broke in two places the weekend and the city is trying to keep the rest of the dikes from collapsing. The Kansas Department of Transportation reported roads in northeast Kansas will be closed for days because of high water. The situation will get worse, said Brad Rippey, U.S. Department of Agriculture weather forecaster. The river will continue to rise as part of a growing cascade of water on Missouri River tributaries and the high water will keep rising. Nor, he said, will the situation go away anytime soon. Water levels will remain high for weeks and perhaps even month, he said. Giant federal reservoirs in Montana and the Dakotas are at the bursting point and authorities have had to open up the flood gates to the relieve pressure on the dams. At the same time, there is still an unprecedented amount of snow in the Rockies that will be melting throughout the summer, exacerbating the problem, he said.
Wednesday, June 8, 1 p.m.
