Holt County preparing for flood

HOLT COUNTY, MO (KXCV) - Just as the Army Corps is ready to release water upstream, Missourians living along the Missouri River are already bracing for flooding.

In extreme Northwest Missouri about 40 residents in the Big Lake State Park area have voluntarily evacuated as they anticipating flooding by this weekend.

County clerk Kathy Kunkel serves with the county’s emergency management operations there and says local authorities are getting ready.

"Our emergency management center is open, the dispatch is set up to handle phone calls with a breach- how we’re going to be actionable about that. We’ve sped up our preliminary operations with Red Cross to do temporary sheltering if someone is in need of that," Kunkel said.

Holt County is not issuing mandatory evacuation orders yet but “strongly urging” residents in the Missouri River floodplain to evacuate in the coming days.

Kirk Wayman, KXCV

Posted in: Army Corps of Engineers,Holt County,Kirk Wayman,Missouri River flooding