The Missouri River is rising. Here’s where flooding is threatening the KC area
Several counties in the Kansas City area are under flood warnings as the Missouri River threatens to overflow its banks in parts of the metro.
The National Weather Service has extended flood warnings along the Missouri River for Jackson, Leavenworth, Platte, Ray and Wyandotte counties in the Kansas City metro.
Under flood warnings, the cities along the Missouri River include Atchison, Kansas, St. Joseph, Leavenworth, Parkville, Miami, Napoleon, Waverly, Glasgow and Boonville. The warning also includes the surrounding counties.
In the KC metro area, the Missouri River at Leavenworth was 20.6 feet as of 9 a.m. Tuesday, and minor flooding was occurring. The river is expected to crest at 22.5 feet Thursday evening and fall below flood stage early Sunday afternoon.
Lowland flooding occurs at 20 feet along the east and west banks of the river. At 22.3 feet, water enters Riverfront Park, which was closed before the flooding. In addition, Second Street at the wastewater treatment plant is closed due to high water.
At 23.4 feet, Hildebrandt Island north of Fort Leavenworth begins to flood, and families in this area must evacuate.
Where could the Missouri River flood?
Meanwhile, the weather service predicts that the Missouri River will rise above flood stage, 25 feet, Tuesday afternoon in Parkville and crest at 27.7 feet early Friday. As of 8:45 a.m., the river was at 24.9 feet. The river is expected to fall below flood stage on Sunday afternoon.
The water reaches the bottom of the South Main Street Bridge at 28 feet, and a significant portion of English Landing Park floods, according to the weather service.
In St. Joseph, moderate flooding occurred as the Missouri River rose to 22.6 feet. The river was expected to crest at 24.1 feet Thursday morning and fall below flood stage, 17 feet, early Monday.
At 17 feet, lowland flooding occurs upstream and downstream from St. Joseph. At 19 feet, backwater from the Missouri River floods property along the Nodaway River at Nodaway, Missouri. At 21 feet, Riverfront Park in St. Joseph begins to flood, and at 24 feet, a residential area in northwest St. Joseph starts to flood.
Minor flooding occurred at Atchison and Napoleon on the Missouri River.
This story was originally published July 2, 2024 at 12:46 PM.
