Residents recall ‘93 disaster as Missouri towns flood

AGENCY, Mo. – Five burst levees along the Missouri River sent a deluge of water that submerged the tiny town of Big Lake on Tuesday, as thousands in the region fled their homes amid warnings that the flooding could approach the devastation of 1993.

The levees broke Monday south of Big Lake, along with four smaller levees along the Tarkio River and the Tarkio Creek, and the rush of river water immersed the town on Tuesday, said Mark Sitherwood, presiding commissioner of Holt County. Many of the buildings in town had several feet of water inside, said Holt County Clerk Kathy Kunkel.

“The town is a loss. At this time, we don’t know, but it looks like that’s what’s going to happen,” Sitherwood said.

No injuries were reported. Most Big Lake residents evacuated Monday but a handful had to be rescued by boat Tuesday, Sitherwood said.

Big Lake is about 95 miles northwest of Kansas City and has a permanent population of 150 and another 150 summer residents. Nearby, the communities of Craig and Fortescue also were threatened, Sitherwood said.

In Agency, a town of about 600 surrounded on three sides by the Platte River, most had already evacuated. The town was hit hard in 1993 in one of the most costly and devastating floods in U.S. history. That flood claimed 48 lives in the Midwest and caused $18 billion in damage.

By midday Tuesday, a few homes were partially submerged, as were nearby roads and a cemetery.

“It isn’t as bad as 1993,” said Pauline Gibson, 71, who did not evacuate her trailer home was packed if she had to leave quickly. “But it’s working on it. We don’t want it like ‘93, but they say more rain is coming and that’s not good.”

Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt declared a state of emergency and mobilized National Guard troops to help. At least 19 Kansas counties declared local disaster emergencies.

River towns across much of Missouri were evacuating low-lying areas Tuesday or seeking help filling and stacking sandbags.

Communities across the central Plains faced flooding from the weekend-long thunderstorms that spawned the deadly tornado that wiped out Greensburg, Kan.

Parts of Missouri, Iowa and Kansas received 4 to 8 inches of rain in a 24-hour period, the National Weather Service said. In some areas, Tuesday morning was the first time in several days that rain wasn’t falling, but runoff was still raising streams and rivers.