Clay County officials make wish list of flood damage needs

Forgive some Clay County officials if they’re seeing rain in their sleep.

They’ve had so much high water recently, they’ll likely have a lot to tell a state emergency agency representative expected to arrive Tuesday to review flood-related damage across the county.

“We want to identify those areas that have been the most impacted,” said Sheriff’s Capt. Will Akin, who serves as county emergency management coordinator.

Since Gov. Jay Nixon declared a state of emergency June 18, the State Emergency Management Agency has dispatched coordinators across Missouri to gauge storm damage. Those officials will confer with federal officials to consider possible financial relief, Akin said.

Kearney, Mosby and Excelsior Springs all have dealt with high water this year.

In addition, some Clay County roads have been submerged repeatedly. At times, some holes at the county’s Paradise Pointe golf complex have been unplayable. And sections of the hiking, biking and equestrian trials at Smithville Lake have been impassable at times, said Nicole Brown, a county spokeswoman.

Twelve homes in Mosby were badly damaged, Brown said, after around 30 feet of floodwater from the Fishing River swept through the town on May 17. On June 4, the river overflowed onto the streets of Mosby again.

In Kearney, Clear Creek came out of its banks that day as well, damaging a walking trail and a road and cutting power to control panels for the city’s sanitary sewer system. That in turn caused water and sewage to spill across the floor at First United Methodist Church, which had to move its weekly Sunday services to Kearney High School’s auditorium.

“Our facilities have been in good shape, thankfully, and we are happy to help out,” Kearney superintendent William Nicely said.

Excelsior Springs residents also have grown weary of the rain, said Paul Tribble, the community’s fire chief.

“Piburn Field has flooded three times now,” Tribble said, referring to the baseball field near the community’s downtown district.

Two weeks ago, the city had sandbags ready to barricade the basement of the police station — just in case.

The recent Father’s Day rain left eight inches of water standing against an exterior wall of Westview Elementary School. The water spilled into school hallways and some classrooms, said deputy superintendent Jaret Tomlinson.

“Some of our personnel came in on Father’s Day to help,” Tomlinson said.

Fortunately, the damage wasn’t too bad. Minimal flooring repairs will be completed in time for school to reopen for the fall term, he said.

That, of course, assumes no more flooding happens this summer.

This story was originally published June 27, 2015 at 8:50 PM with the headline "Clay County officials make wish list of flood damage needs."