Rocheport is HIGH & DRY!

Hi all. Rocheport is HIGH & DRY! Current estimates predict that the Mo River will not even come within 1-2 feet of crossing the trail. In other words, other than some sandbags/flood preparation, the town is UP & RUNNING. All B&Bs, restaurants, businesses, etc. are GOOD TO GO! Most trail sections are bikable although a short stretch through town here does have sandbags covering one half of trail's width. Current river predictions having river levels quickly subsiding after Sunday. There's still plenty of biking to be done in the local community and some areas of the Katy Trail near town. We'll all be back to normal by next week. Please spread the word!!!! Thanks!!!!! The comment "The MO DNR recommends avoiding Rocheport, where sandbagging is being done on the trail" should read "MO DNR recommends avoiding 2,400 feet of trail in Rocheport, where sandbagging is being done. The rest of the town is fine!" Most people don't realize that 99% of our town is NOT in the bottom -- in other words, other than sandbagging a few low lying houses on the edge of town on Moniteau Creek, life here is continuing as is. Any questions please check back here. This weather offers a really great opportunity to bike a bit and bring your canoe or kayak. The local wetland areas are flooded with a few feet of water, and you will have a once in a lifetime chance to paddle areas not normally accessible, through cottonwood forests and towering river birch. No river current, no worries. I'll try to post once a day for the next two weeks. In two weeks this will all be behind us. Please come see us! Thank you! Brett Dufur, Mayor of Rocheport and author of The Complete Katy Trail Guidebook

Hi there again. Great news. Reduced flood stage levels are looking very promising. Current update now says the river will crest tomorrow (Friday) morning. It's going to only rise up about 2 more inches and then drop 10 feet by Tuesday. Didn't even make it to the Katy Trail. Looks like our sandbag walls aren't going to get wet this time. Come to town and you'll get a look you don't see very often --- the Missouri River has reclaimed the "old slough" which used to be the riverfront where steamboats landed in the late 1800s. Kayak & paddle through wetlands that might never see water like this again. THANKS TO EVERYONE who came to town to help us fight the good fight! It has been amazing to see so many friends come together to help protect this little river town. Neighbors, cyclists, Boone County Fire District, Boone County Public Works, Boone Electric, Boone County Sheriffs, on and on, I could never list them all. Thank you! To all of the volunteers that gave an hour or all day, thank you! We may never be able to thank each one of you face to face, but please know that you are all Rocheport citizens for life --- many hands made the reaction to possible flooding happen at an incredible pace. We are high & dry, our town is safe, and I hope anyone reading this will help spread the word that Rocheport weathered the storm. They say you never realize how many friends you have until you need them, and we are proud to remember that Rocheport is part of a much larger community that transcends local map lines and distance. As we say, Rocheport is a state of mind! ~Brett

The river will drop more than 10 feet by Tuesday. That means the river will be back in its banks by Tuesday. Regarding the Rocheport Park and most areas that flood along the Katy Trail, the main clean up to be done is debris removal. Barring any unforeseen damage, Katfish Katys (for example) will be up and open for business in a relatively short amount of time. Same for Cooper's Landing in Easley. The response time of Boone County services to protect Rocheport, Huntsdale, Wilton & Hartsburg was truly incredible. I will post more information as it becomes available. But this is an incredibly short-lived event who's longest-lived ill effects are actually the result of the media's affect on the public (OH MY GOD THE RIVER HAS WASHED EVERYONE AWAY!) rather than the flood's seasonal, albeit large, rise (72 hours). Keep in mind the river always has a spring rise. This one was just larger. Most river towns are pretty used to preparing for, and rebounding from, these types of events. ~Brett Dufur, Rocheport

Brett, thank you for the updates. I'm glad to hear that Rocheport is in good shape and still ready to offer its unique charm to Katy travellers. No trip on that part of the trail is complete without a visit to Rocheport.



You're not kidding about the media hyping this stuff - this morning on CNN they said that the Missouri River was "expected to reach record levels". Now, I've heard lots of predictions over the past few days, but none that predicted "record levels" (i.e. higher than 1993). Media's just trying to get people's attention, I guess.

Hallelujah! Am so glad the rumors of Rocheport's imminent flooding have been greatly exaggerated (to borrow from Mark Twain, former steamboat captain)!

On a sidenote, Mr. Dufur, I'm so pleased to finally put 2 and 2 together-- I've been reading your guidebooks a lot of late, the Nature one and the Katy one, but I didn't make the connection you owned the B&B we're staying in. Cool.

Thanks very much for the illustrative updates, and for all you've done for the Katy Trail and the town. I agree-- Rocheport's a gem of a place. See you soon.

Good news about Rocheport and the rest of the area. I guess the levee breaks in the KC area saved the folks downstream.

One note, though: Let's not take too much of a swipe at the media, Brett. I don't think anyone, at least in the print area, ever said the river has washed everyone away. It seems that NOAA and the National Weather Service were the ones sounding the initial alarm. Lets just be thankful that this time around, the water didn't get as high as predicted. This was a little more than the usual seasonal rise, at least in the 11 years that I have lived in Mid-Mo.

Hey GC I hear ya -- just a little venting from a hectic week -- when I opened www.msnbc.com and the first photo shows the back of a small girl in Rocheport holding a doll framed tightly against a backdrop that looks like a sea of a flood with no structures in sight, it gives you the sense of total destruction, not to mention Fox news saying things like "expecting record flood levels" etc. Fox also had a piece where they showed a bunch of houses half submerged and then moved to a shot of Rocheport and a reporter's comment about Rocheport so that did leave a very tweaked perspective on what was going on here. We were blessed that it dissipated like it did. I'm just saying that the lingering effects of all that press literally take a whole season to go away --- I remember how 1993 and 1994 seasons for all these little businesses were just snuffed out, and how after the 1995 flood it was flat. Just hoping to get on with our normal season..... Follow this link for a pretty good picture of how the flood didn't even get our sandbags wet: http://www.columbiatribune.com/2007/May/20070511News009.asp

See you guys on the trail! Great website Ray!!!!! ~Brett

Rocheport is back to normal -- there were people riding their bikes on the Katy Trail through Rocheport again today (next to a wall of sandbags...) everything is back to normal -- the river is slowly dropping and I believe the robin's have eaten a year's worth of earthworms by now.... ~Brett

I agree, Brett. I will not bother anyone with my usual rant on TV news other than to say, it doesn't surprise me that they went over the top with all of this. I will say, though, that when the National Weather Service and NOAA start saying "near record river levels" you can't help but think 1993/95 revisited.
When all is said and done, I'm just happy to see the dry sandbags.

Now everyone get on the trail!!!

Hi all -- People are biking the trail in Rocheport. The Katfish Katy's at Huntsdale is 110% open for business. The trail in both directions is dry. There must have been 25 cyclists at their store this afternoon. I repeat: Katfish Katy's in Huntsdale is OPEN FOR BUSINESS AS USUAL. I heard Cooper's Landing in Easley had about 6 inches of water on their floor (and plenty of beer). I got to tour the river and wetlands today. All of the Katy Trail portions between Rocheport to below Huntsdale all appeared to be fine from the river. here's a link to Cooper's Landing newsletter with lots of great links of upcoming activities and "flood that didn't happen" links:
http://www.cooperslanding.net/newsletter.htm
P.S. The kayaking was otherworldly. Very incredible day!
See you on the trail! Brett

Get rid of your television and explore the beauty of all the KATY trail experience. Definately include the beautiful town of Rocheport and all of our friends there. Thanks Brett for all you do and have done to enhance one of Missouri's greatest treasures.