(ATCHISON COUNTY, Mo.) Governor Mike Parson (R-Missouri) toured flood-damaged areas of Atchison County on Tuesday, alongside federal, local and other state officials.
The Governor, U.S. Representative Sam Graves (R-MO 6th District) and State Representative Allen Andrews (R-District 1) gathered in Rock Port before setting out to assess the damage caused by three major levee breaks along the Missouri River in that part of the county.
"Now that the water has gone down, we realize that there's a lot more damage out there," Parson said. "We've been able to asses that damage and see where we're at, and see where that whole is between the federal disaster money and the state disaster money."
Parson added that about $8 Million was put into the state budget last year to be used for some of the projects needing to be done in the Rock Port community.
Atchison County Emergency Management released some numbers surrounding the extent of the damage. Here is some of the data they provided of what was directly impacted by flooding:
121.3 miles of county roads
74,314 acres West of I-29
14 businesses
166 homes
278 people
1,295 ag buildings
11 state roads
Parson said he is currently meeting with the governors of Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa to figure out a way to change the management of the Missouri River. He said he'd like to see the four states talking with the Corps of Engineers to better fix the levees so the flooding doesn't happen again.
"We need a seat at the table, I've said that all along, with the corps of engineers," Parson said. "We're working through that stuff. I think finally at the federal level they're hearing our message because so many governors are involved and the devastation that we had this year."