Mo. to chip in $3.3M to help repair busted levees

By HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH

Associated Press

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Gov. Jay Nixon says Missouri is paying $3.3 million to help repair some of the state's most flood-battered levees.

The announcement Friday is the latest good news. President Barack Obama last month signed a nationwide disaster relief bill that provides $1.7 billion for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which includes money to help fix Missouri River levees.

Many of the levees that will benefit from the money are part of a federal program that helps levee operators make flood repairs. But the program requires the levees to pass routine inspections and their operators to chip in 20 percent of the repair costs.

In part, the money from Nixon's office will help cover the matching costs required to repair levees in Buchanan, Carroll, Holt and Platte counties.