Watching the river rise

After hearing on the local news that they were filling sandbags about fifty miles upriver, I decided to go down to the observation deck at the Westport Landing and take some pictures of the rising Missouri River - especially after I checked the national weather service website and saw that all along the Missouri, there are flood warnings for every county.

From the observation deck, looking north across the river, you can see that we are above flood stage, and the river is up to the leafy canopy of the trees closest to the water on the north bank, but no one here is panicking. We have a pretty good levee system, and there is no call going out for volunteers to fill sandbags. But if they do, we'll be there. We may live on the top floor of a building that sits on top of the tallest hill in the county, but if our neighbors need a hand, we'll extend ours.

More pictures below the fold.

Looking upriver.

The railroad "bridge to nowhere"

North, across the river.

These last two are from the ground, about 100 yards east of the observation deck.

The river is probably not going to cause Kansas City any problems, but the creeks and tributaries that empty into the Missouri may cause some problems for the folks who live along them. If you are in a county with a flood warning, be careful, pay close attention, and always have a plan to get to high ground if necessity should dictate.

If you're on the east side of the state, they are sandbagging all along the Mississippi, and could probably use your help. They are already facing a flood of 1993 proportions. The swollen Missouri heading their way is not going to help matters any.


This image is from the Wikipedia entry on the flood of 1003 and shows the high-water mark reached during the floods of 1844, 1951 and 1993.