V - Missouri Department of Natural Resources

(figs. 5 and 6). Of the 200 homes flooded by the Little Platte River, 46 were destroyed or so
severely damaged that they were condemned or razed. The flood damaged 67 business places,S
churches and church properties, the high school, the city water supply pumping stations, the
sanitary lagoon, and various other municipal properties. The telephone exchange was out of
service for 4 days.
Castile Creek, which enters the Platte River from the east between One Hundred and Two and
Little Platte Rivers, also experienced flooding. Rainfall for the period July 17-20 ranged
from 8 to 14 inches over the basin. Jenkins Branch, a tributary to Castile Creek, experienced
a stage 2.5 feet higher than the previous highest stage in 15 years of record at the stream­
gaging station at Gower.
Gtove Creek, a tributary to the Platte River below Castile Creek, flooded the town of
Edgerton (pop. 449) on the night of July 19, causing extensive damage (fig. 7). The area
drained by Grove Creek was in the center of one of the storm cells where over 20 inches of
rainfall was reported. The flood profile of Platte River (pl. 3) indicates that tributaries
in the vicinity of Edgerton contributed large amounts of floodwater to the Platte River. Twelve
homes, about 25 automobiles, and 3 bridges were destroyed in Edgerton.
On the main stem of the Platte River disastrous flooding occurred from Rochester to the
river's mouth. At various points downstream from Edgerton the flood crest reached elevations
9 feet higher than the previous highest known flood of June 1947 (pl. 3). The towns of Agency,
Tracy, and Farley were inundated as the river rose to a record crest of 35.05 feet at the stream·
gaging station near Agency. The crest was 4.6 feet above the previous record stage of 30.46
feet recorded in June 1947. Records at this station have been collected since May 1924. Approx­
imately 85 percent of the town of Agency (pop. 240) was inundated (fig. 8). Thirty-three resi­
dences and one mobile home were flooded, and 13 of the residences have been abandoned since the
flood. Two churches and the Post Office were severely damaged. The business district of Agency,
which has been subjected to many floods, suffered only moderate losses.
Farther downstream, Interstate Highway 29 was overtopped and traffic stopped near Platte
City. At Tracy (pop. 208), about one mile downstream from Interstate Highway 29 on Highway 92.
about one· third of the residential area was flooded by the Platte River (fig. 9). Water depths
reached about 15 feet in the lower sections of the town inundating 24 dwellings, 6 mobile homes,
2 churches, 6 business places, and the Platte County Fairgrounds. About 90 persons were forced
to leave their homes and many of them were unable to remove their furniture and personal belong­
ings. Highway 92, west of the community. was closed for about 4 days.
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