Parts of St. Joseph under mandatory evacuation
KANSAS CITY (AP) — More towns are evacuating as the flooded Missouri River seeps over and through busted levees.
The National Weather Service said the river is expected to crest Friday at levels just short of those reached during historic 1993 flooding in Atchison, Kansas, and St. Joseph, Missouri.
About 1,200 residents of the Kansas town of Elwood were urged to leave, and the governor eased restrictions on large vehicles carrying relief supplies. Across the river, parts of an industrial area in St. Joseph were inundated with water.
A Facebook post from the city of St. Joseph said the city and Buchanan County are issuing "a MANDATORY evacuation of areas behind the L-455 levee system on the Missouri side and the area protected by the R-471/460 levee on the Kansas side."
No major flooding is forecast downstream in Kansas City.
The Missouri River swelled following heavy rains and snowmelt this month. The flooding had been blamed for three deaths, damaged thousands of homes in Nebraska,Iowa and Missouri, and taken a heavy toll on agriculture.
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