According to a recent national report, 20 percent of dams in populated areas lack an adequate emergency plan. That’s not the case in Smithville, Missouri.
The small town lies along the Little Platte River. Just one look at downtown and you can see it’s flowing with history and charm. There’s a blue line on the side of one of the buildings. It’s a reminder something else once flowed through those streets.
Smithville Police Chief Jason Lockridge has heard the stories. “This building right here. If you can see that blue line, that’s where the water level was in the mid 60’s. So that’s going to put it like 8 or 9 feet. Most of downtown is under water.”
It was the summer of 1965. The Smithville Herald highlighted several of the telling images in a magazine published in 2015 for the 50th anniversary. During that flood, boats had to come in and rescue residents. Cars, buildings, valuables were all under water.
Chief Lockridge is working to make sure Smithville never sees the likes of that again.
Glen Richardson can almost guarantee it doesn’t happen again. The 91 year-old helped build the dam and lake in the mid 60’s. “I worked heavy construction all my life. Built the dam. I was here the day they put that thing in there to stop the water.”
As hundreds of thousands are forced to evacuate neighborhoods in California, folks thousands of miles away are taking notice in both Clay and Platte Counties. “
We’re watching what’s happening in California very closely,” Chief of Police Jason Lockridge tells 41 Action News. “Because we do have a dam in our own backyard with the Army Corps of Engineers. We do set in Clay County, but if this dam gives way it’s going to drastically affect everything downstream, which is in Platte County as well.”
Two years ago the Army Corps of Engineers and CEMA coordinated an exercise in Smithville, very similar to what’s actually happening at the Oroville Dam in California.
First responders say it’s very unlikely something that catastrophic will happen in our area, but they’re prepared. “It’s something we have a plan for,” Chief Lockridge tells 41 Action News.
In early February 2017, Smithville’s plan was reviewed by the National Weather Service. As a result, Smithville has been designated a storm ready city.
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Kevin Holmes can be reached at Kevin.Holmes@KSHB.com
