Missouri River Floodwaters Pass Through Town

A secondary flood crest on the Missouri River passed through St. Charles on Friday, causing little additional damage to homes inundated in last week’s record flooding.

“As far as the worst of it, it’s over with,” said Sgt. Pete Bishop of the St. Charles County Sheriff’s Department. “We’re not expecting any more damage.”

Sheriff’s deputies no longer are patrolling several trailer parks in the county, Bishop said, but an officer remained on duty in West Alton and Portage des Sioux.

Portage des Sioux still was surrounded by floodwaters Friday and could be reached only by boat or helicopter. Many residents of West Alton were able to reach their homes by wading through knee-deep water.

Bishop said the public cleanup probably will begin with the repair of roads and levees that were extensively damaged.

“But we can’t do anything until the water recedes,” he said. “That’s what we are waiting for now.”

The National Weather Service said the Missouri River at St. Charles crested at 30.6 feet Friday morning, well under the record 37.8 feet of last week. Flood stage at St. Charles is 25 feet.

Weather officials predicted the Missouri will fall to about 30 feet today and then continue to drop.