Aerial view of Missouri River Flooding in Buchanan County, Missouri, east of Atchison, Kansas, on March 22, 2019/Credit: Atchison Co Emergency Management. 

(KAIR)--“This was supposed to be a 500 year event.”

That word, regarding the flooding impacting local communities, came in a social media post made Saturday morning by Kansas Representative Dr. John Eplee.

Calling the post “just an update from Northeast Kansas District 63,” the Republican lawmaker said, "it will be months before the full impact of this event can be stabilized.”

Eplee said thousands of acres of farm land is under water in Doniphan and Atchison Counties, leaving the homes of many rural residents under water.

Saying the flooding “currently is approaching the flood of ‘93 at 31.3 feet,” Eplee, in the post, said “the policies of the Army Corps of Engineers will certainly be discussed and reviewed again.”

Adding that he has been in communication with the Governor’s office and the Adjutant General’s Office discussing relief and recovery efforts,” he said he fears that the local area is “in for a prolonged flood event,” and that “demographics will certainly be affected just as they were in ‘93” when historic flooding devastated the local area.

The flood has forced the evacuation of Buchanan County, Missouri communities, just east of Atchison, Kansas, as well as the Doniphan County, Kansas community of Elwood, a portion of Saint Joseph, Missouri, and others.

Motorists are also feeling the effects, with major travel routes covered by flood water.

That includes the closing of U.S. Highway 59, in Missouri, east of Atchison, including the closing of the Amelia Earhart Memorial Bridge that connects Atchison, Kansas to Winthrop, Missouri. Missouri 45 is also closed, as is all of Atchison’s River Road, along with K-7 from Sparks, Kansas, to the Nebraska line, and the ramps off Highway 36 going into Elwood. For updated road information go online to www.KanDrive.org or call 511 or online and mobile (http://511mm.ksdot.org).

Atchison County Emergency Management reported on social media that the Missouri River crested Friday at 31.2 feet.

The river, at Atchison, hit a record crest of 31.63 feet in July, 1993.

The Army Corps of Engineers Friday evening said Gavins Point Dam releases have been maintained at 24,000 cubic feet per second since Wednesday, but are expected to be increased to 32,000 cubic feet per second once the crest on the Big Sioux River reaches Sioux City, Iowa.

In Kansas, Doniphan, Marshall and Jefferson Counties have issued local disaster declarations and Kelly signed a state declaration for Doniphan County on March 15.