St. Louis District Corps of Engineers Levee Update – June 4, 2013

Published June 4, 2013

ST. LOUIS – As of 10:30 a.m. CST today, all federal levees in the St. Louis District are performing as designed. The Corps is working with our partners and local communities to reduce the risk of damages from flooding.

Flood fight teams are currently deployed along the Missouri, Mississippi and Illinois Rivers to monitor levees and provide technical assistance and supplies to local flood fighting efforts. Public safety is our first priority.

While there is stress on our levee systems, engineers on the ground are not seeing anything unexpected in a flood of this magnitude. There has been no levee breach on the Consolidated North County levee in West Alton. A department of transportation temporary barricade of a culvert failed last night, causing flooding over southbound Highway 67 and prompting local authorities to issue an evacuation notice to West Alton.

Some levees in the area have been overtopped. This is not unusual for larger floods, when river levels rise above smaller levee heights. Levees overtopped in the St. Louis District include Columbia Bottoms, Kuhs, and Chouteau Island. In the April flood, the following levees were overtopped: Pike Grain #4, Kissinger, Sandy Creek, Foley, Cap Au Gris, Winfield Main, and Brevator. A breach resulting from overtopping on the Chouteau Island levee has been reported and Corps personnel are on site assisting local efforts.

For updated information and forecasts, visit the USACE St. Louis District Flood Fight page: http://bit.ly/floodfight2013


Contact
Mike Petersen
314-331-8002
michael.w.petersen@usace.army.mil

Release no. 13-049