Flood waters continue to wreak havoc on Heartland communities.
NEAR MORAVIA, IOWA -- Sandbags were being prepared, moved, and placed along the Marina at Rathbun Lake on Wednesday morning.
Volunteers and water pumps were working to protect the main office building at the Marina, which also houses the store and restaurant.
Bill Empson is with the Technical Support Branch of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
"We've got about 500 cubic feet per second of water being released [from Rathbun Lake] through our outlet works. We'll ramp it up gradually throughout [Wednesday], and we'll try to get about 3,000 cubic feet per second. We'll watch the downstream conditions, though, every hour or so. We will not increase releases to the point that we create any issues for the downstream community," Empson said.
Included in those communities is Novinger, Missouri on the Chariton River. Officials in both areas were in contact with each other on Wednesday.
Empson added that the water level in Rathbun Lake is one foot from topping the record level set in 1993, and the water is expected to do so.
"Right now, the lake is about 24.5 feet above normal pool, and we're projecting it to go another two feet. So we're going to be right at the emergency spillway, which is a soil cut west of the dam. But at this point, whether we make releases through there is dependent upon rain," Empson said.
Emergency Management in Appanoose County, along with Sheriff Gary Anderson, held a meeting at the Corps Office at Rathbun Lake on Wednesday.
TV Station Profiles & Public Inspection Files forKTVO