AILSA CHANG, HOST:
As some Nebraska residents begin to clean up from historic floods, those who live downstream in Kansas and Missouri are on alert. National Weather Service meteorologist Andy Foster says those communities need to be wary.
ANDY FOSTER: Those floodwaters have left these smaller streams and now are going into the major stem rivers, including the Missouri River. And we have major flooding going on at several sites along the Missouri River from south of Omaha down to St. Joseph into the Kansas City area. And of course that water will continue to flow downriver and then into the Mississippi with time.
CHANG: Foster says Parkville, Mo., near Kansas City is especially vulnerable to flooding.
MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
The surge is already causing problems in some areas. In Craig, Mo., this morning, water broke through a levee. Everyone was ordered to evacuate.
CHANG: Further south in Buchanan County, Mo., an effort was underway to reinforce their levees.
RON HOOK: Right now, what we're doing is we're sandbagging thousands of sandbags with local residents, inmates, county workers.
CHANG: Ron Hook is a Buchanan County commissioner. He says the work has been going on for the last five days and will continue at least through tomorrow. About 200 people are involved in that effort. Hook remembers that in 2011, homes in the county were inundated by floods.
HOOK: This one here will not be as bad, but they are going to get water, probably. It's just going to be in and hopefully out within several days.
KELLY: Well, the water might be gone from Buchanan County in a few days, but the National Weather Service warns flooding will continue to be a problem for the area throughout the spring. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.