City of Cassville flooding causes minor damage
May 8, 2019
Vinnie Roberts
Last week on Tuesday, April 30, Barry County residents felt the effects of a major storm cell. During that time, there were 11 reported tornadic touchdowns across southern Missouri during the storms, three of those in Barry County, leaving several structures throughout the area damaged or destroyed.
The City of Cassville experienced a confirmed, fairly small, EF-0 tornado, but due to the town’s close proximity to Flat Creek, once again the city received flood damage.
According to David Brock, Cassville’s public works director, the storms and the ensuing flooding left some streets and culverts with debris issues and damage to the Greenway Trail.
“We had a lot of debris that washed up on box culverts,” said Brock. “Most of the street cleaning and debris removal was done by the end of the following day.”
Brock went on to explain that some of the most costly damage centered around Cassville’s Greenway Trail. The Greenway runs from a northern point in town, beginning at Rocky Edmondson Park behind Cassville Middle School, to the Aquatic Center, located in the town’s industrial district.
“The real damage that we suffered was on the gravel sections of the Greenway Trail,” said Brock. “Sections were washed out down adjacent to Flat Creek and some more down at our city’s south park by the aquatic center, and we’re still doing repairs on those.”
Brock also said that the main lasting damage done to the trail is the large amount of gravel that the storm and subsequent flood washed away.
“The trail is still passable,” said Brock. “We’ve reclaimed as much gravel as we could, but there’s been some areas where we’re needing to bring new gravel in. We need to wait for the ground to be less soggy so that our trucks can get through to there. As soon as that ground firms up and we can get those dump trucks in, then we’ll finish that off.”
The public works department will locally source the gravel, according to Brock. This will be funded through the city’s public works budget and should cost no more than $2,000.
However, the public works department may be reimbursed, as the recent storm activity has the potential to be declared a disaster by the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA). According to Brock, SEMA representatives have contacted Cassville City Hall as well as several other local government representatives, advising them on the matter.
“SEMA has advised all of the local communities to document their flood response and damages, because now they’ve said there’s been 11 tornado touchdowns in southern Missouri during the storm event. There’s some potential that there will be a disaster declaration and reimbursement.”
Resurfacing on the Greenway Trail is expected to begin at the city’s earliest possible convenience. For more information on this or other public works projects, contact Cassville City Hall at (417) 847-4441.
Vinnie Roberts
Last week on Tuesday, April 30, Barry County residents felt the effects of a major storm cell. During that time, there were 11 reported tornadic touchdowns across southern Missouri during the storms, three of those in Barry County, leaving several structures throughout the area damaged or destroyed.
The City of Cassville experienced a confirmed, fairly small, EF-0 tornado, but due to the town’s close proximity to Flat Creek, once again the city received flood damage.
According to David Brock, Cassville’s public works director, the storms and the ensuing flooding left some streets and culverts with debris issues and damage to the Greenway Trail.
“We had a lot of debris that washed up on box culverts,” said Brock. “Most of the street cleaning and debris removal was done by the end of the following day.”
Brock went on to explain that some of the most costly damage centered around Cassville’s Greenway Trail. The Greenway runs from a northern point in town, beginning at Rocky Edmondson Park behind Cassville Middle School, to the Aquatic Center, located in the town’s industrial district.
“The real damage that we suffered was on the gravel sections of the Greenway Trail,” said Brock. “Sections were washed out down adjacent to Flat Creek and some more down at our city’s south park by the aquatic center, and we’re still doing repairs on those.”
Brock also said that the main lasting damage done to the trail is the large amount of gravel that the storm and subsequent flood washed away.
“The trail is still passable,” said Brock. “We’ve reclaimed as much gravel as we could, but there’s been some areas where we’re needing to bring new gravel in. We need to wait for the ground to be less soggy so that our trucks can get through to there. As soon as that ground firms up and we can get those dump trucks in, then we’ll finish that off.”
The public works department will locally source the gravel, according to Brock. This will be funded through the city’s public works budget and should cost no more than $2,000.
However, the public works department may be reimbursed, as the recent storm activity has the potential to be declared a disaster by the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA). According to Brock, SEMA representatives have contacted Cassville City Hall as well as several other local government representatives, advising them on the matter.
“SEMA has advised all of the local communities to document their flood response and damages, because now they’ve said there’s been 11 tornado touchdowns in southern Missouri during the storm event. There’s some potential that there will be a disaster declaration and reimbursement.”
Resurfacing on the Greenway Trail is expected to begin at the city’s earliest possible convenience. For more information on this or other public works projects, contact Cassville City Hall at (417) 847-4441.