Amid more flooding, officials call for the evacuation of Mosby, but some residents stay put

The people in Mosby didn’t even have time to dry out.

With floodwater fast approaching from the Fishing River on Thursday, residents were urged by officials to evacuate. Even as the floodwater started to spill down Main Street, many residents took a wait-and-see approach.

Some rode bikes around town. Others walked around outside and chatted with neighbors. They had seen floods before, and some said they were more prepared than they had been on May 17, when around 30 feet of floodwater made its way through the town of about 190 people.

“Nine out of 10 times,” resident Kent Kavanaugh said of his family, “we’re going to stick it out.”

Volunteer firefighter Josh Cazzell said he lived in Mosby for almost 17 years before moving to nearby Excelsior Springs. He was in town Thursday to help residents evacuate if the flooding became worse.

“The citizens that live here now are used to what’s going on,” Cazzell said. “It’s basically put up all your stuff, get the cars out and wait it out.”

Mayor Harlin Clements spent the afternoon putting up barricades and monitoring the fast-rising floodwater.

“We’re doing whatever we can to make sure we get people evacuated,” he said.

While the possibility of flooding led to a voluntary evacuation earlier in the day, some residents stayed behind despite the warnings. Sally Denney, a lifelong resident of Mosby, said evacuations like this happen, but not once has she left town during a flood. Denney said the possibility of having two floods so close together was rough.

“For this to happen again … we don’t need this,” Denney said.

Kavanaugh said he has seen four floods during the 61/2 years he has lived in Mosby. The flooding almost three weeks ago was the worst and fastest.

He spent Thursday doing all he could to make his home and his daughter’s home next door as flood-resistant as possible. He raised everything off the floor and closed off crawl spaces to try to keep water from getting in.

Looking out from his lawn, Kavanaugh could see the floodwater just up the street. He said that unless it started raining hard, he and his family were going to stay put.

“It’s your life,” Kavanaugh said. “This is what you pay for.”

This story was originally published June 4, 2015 at 1:36 PM with the headline "Amid more flooding, officials call for the evacuation of Mosby, but some residents stay put."