OSAWATOMIE, Kan. — Many roads in the metro have taken a beating and even closed with all the rain we’ve gotten in the last week.
Another one to three inches of rain is expected this week.
“Anytime there is flash flooding it’s definitely a team effort from multiple departments. Our emergency operation center, the EOC center, they tell us where to put barricades out. We have KC water Department that’s monitoring stream and water levels,” said Maggie Green with the KCMO Public Works Department.
Rivers overtopping have flooded streets and bridges on both sides of the state line.
“The flooding this year is not common, we’ve had a big start to the flood season this year,” said Jason VanNice, KC North Metro Engineer.
Streets are still flooded all around the metro.
A mile section of K-5 in Kansas was underwater for a week in March.
“Once the water went down, we do an inspection on the road and make sure all the debris is cleared off, culverts are drained and those sorts of things so we can get traffic through there,” said VanNice.
347th Street in Osawatomie next to the Marais des Cygnes River is always an issue. Miami County Sheriff’s deputies had to get a car out of the water after someone tried to drive through it - which is never a good idea. The driver got out safely.
Green says Public Works has improved bridges, culverts, and piping but there’s still a lot of room for improvement.
North Hampton is an example, Green says.
“So as bigger capital funding becomes available we hope to be able to make those fixes,” said Green.
The U.S. Department of Transportation just issued $2 million to Missouri to help repair road and bridges damaged by flooding.
