Flooding reported after another round of rain in Missouri

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Rain-swelled creeks and rivers were overflowing their banks Thursday across parts of Missouri, making some roads impassable and leading one small town in the northwest part of the state to evacuate.

With water levels on the Fishing River in Mosby, Missouri, already seven feet above flood stage by midday Thursday and expected to continue rising, authorities were urging the 190 residents to leave their homes, said Scott Watson, a hydrologist for the National Weather Service. The voluntary evacuation comes less than a month after the river inundated about three dozen homes in the town, which is about 20 miles northeast of Kansas City.

Mosby Police Lt. Jason Lininger said between 60 and 70 percent of the homes had been evacuated by the time the streets started filling with water late Thursday afternoon.

"This is a stroke of bad luck," he said. "It floods, but usually not like this."

Rains have been heavy this spring, with Kansas City International Airport receiving 12.5 inches of rain over the past six weeks, about 6.750 inches above average, Watson said. The month of May was the sixth wettest on record in Kansas City, he said.

"We are stuck in a pattern where rain is going to be off and on," Watson said.

The National Weather Service was reporting minor to moderate flooding in several spots along the Missouri, Platte, Little Platte, Osage, Blackwater and Grand rivers. Flooding closed roads in more than a dozen counties, mostly in the western half of the state, according to the Missouri Department of Transportation said. The affected counties were Daviess, DeKalb, Buchanan, Platte, Clay, Lafayette, Jasper, Lawrence, Greene, Polk, Fredrick, Oregon, Johnson and Saline.

As water levels continued rising, operators of flood-control structures were urged to watch for problems.

"Some levees and drainage structures may be tested as heavy rain and water move through local flood-control projects," said Tom Waters, chairman of the Missouri Levee and Drainage District Association, in an email that ended with a warning to "stay safe."