RUSHVILLE, MO—
It was the day that many residents in the northwest corner of Platte County were fearing, after heavy rains overnight proved to be the final straw for levees already struggling to hold back the flooded Missouri River.Waters from a broken levee washed through the town of Rushville, Missouri, across the river from Atchison, Kansas, after an inch-and-a-half of rain overnight. Rushville resident Diana Stanton and her brothers spent Monday working to save their nearly-century old farmhouse.
"We've been hanging on by our teeth last night. We had an inch and half of rain here, the big storm, so we knew this morning we were going to have problems," said Stanton, who spent the day pulling up carpets and cleaning out furniture.
Brother Keith Stanton says that last week they laid out sandbags to stop the rising water, but it wasn't enough.
"We probably laid 30,000 sand bags," he said.
At nearby Sugar Lake, the water is rising fast. Area resident Tammy Christgen and her family emptied their house on the front lawn on Monday, as trucks haul belongings to higher ground. But Christgen says that they will be back.
"We love this place, we love this neighborhood, we love our neighbors, we're safe at night, our kids play here it's the best place in the world to live and that's the truth," said Christgen.
County officials have closed the road into the area, and have warned drivers that they face a $150 if they try to drive into the area. In addition, the local post office says that there might not be any mail deliveries for the next two months.www.fox4kc.com
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