UPDATE
As of 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday the following Cole County Roads are closed due to high water:
Bainer Road Oakland Road
Buffalo Road Payne Road
Campbell Road Railroad Street
East Lohman Road Rockhouse Spur
Engineers Road Vaughn Ford Road
Loesch Road Water Street
Meadows Ford Road Waterford Road
Murphy Ford Road Zion Road
North Branch Road
EARLIER COVERAGE
As of 8:30 a.m., Wednesday, the Cole County Public Works Department has updated the list of road closures in the county due to flood waters-
Bainer Road
Engineers Road
Loesch Road
Meadows Ford Road
Murphys Ford Road
North Branch Road
Oakland Road
Railroad Street
Vaughn Ford Road
Water Street
Waterford Road
EARLIER COVERAGE
As the Missouri River and other area rivers have risen and stayed at high levels, local government officials and officials of private companies are making sure the impacts on their operations along the river are as limited as possible.
"Low water crossings on the north side of the Moreau River have been closed at times, but not so much on the south side of the river," added Cole County Emergency Management Director Bill Farr.
The National Weather Service in St. Louis said Tuesday that the Jefferson City area could see as much as 3 to 4 inches of rain from several storm systems moving through the area this week.
The Missouri River in Jefferson City was close to 27 feet Tuesday afternoon. The forecast has it going down to around 25 feet by tonight and staying at that level through the weekend.
"Bagnell Dam has decreased some of its releases off the Osage River, but they will have to let go more, eventually, as the rains move through," Farr said.
As of Tuesday morning, the Osage River at St. Thomas was at 16 feet and not expected to go down from there until sometime today.
The Moreau River was expected to crest at around 17 feet sometime today and drop off from there.
"We started monitoring high water issues two weeks ago," said Union Pacific Railroad Spokesman Mark Davis. "It helps us in staging materials in different locations, primarily rock such as large stone that could be washed away that could impact our tracks. Every spring as we get storms we watch our locations along rivers, and we've already had issues in Colorado and Wyoming, but nothing yet in the Midwest. We haven't had to shut down lines yet to do detour trains in this area."
The National Weather Service now projects the Mississippi River will reach more than 5 feet above technical flood stage in St. Louis by Friday, and get to 8 feet above flood stage in Cape Girardeau on Monday.
The Missouri River is also high. It was nearly 6½ feet above flood stage on Tuesday in Hermann, flooding fields and low areas in and near the town.
Cole County Health Department officials said as of Tuesday they had no calls or complaints about more mosquitoes coming out with the recent rains.
Cole County Public Works Department crews have put out growth inhibitor tablets in drop inlets and other bodies of water to limit growth of mosquitoes.
"It prevents the incubation of larvae," said Brad Wyss, who does the insecticide spraying for the public works department. "It's not a poison. We focus on small bodies of water with stagnant water, which is where they like to be the best. We've been doing this year round for the last 10 years."
Wyss said the county's fogger machine is ready and they could start tonight in the Russellville area if the weather cooperates.
"It's a waste to do it if it's windy or rainy," he said. "We do the main city streets, creating a low-volume fog. This is done in St. Louis and Kansas City and travels about 12 feet off the ground before it dissipates. Jefferson City uses the same type of fogger. We do switch chemicals to make sure the mosquitoes don't build up a tolerance. Back when the West Nile Virus was a concern it was seen more of a necessity, but now I think people view fogging as of a comfort level service, taking care of a nuisance."
Updates:
Mid-Missouri radar and forecast
Flood statements by National Weather Service, St. Louis
Hydrological map by National Weather Service, St. Louis