The latest local news, weather and high school sports in and around Columbia and Jefferson City

With a thunder that rivals Niagara Falls, the water explodes through Gavin’s Point and into the channel below.

"We're in areas of releases that we've never seen,” Governor Jay Nixon said. “Moving to 160 puts us at a baseline on the river that is keeping everyone on edge."

Governor Nixon said the state will leave nothing to chance.

Blackhawk helicopters are dropping hundreds of sandbags along a levee in Atchison County. The river topped two levees in the area last weekend. Earlier this week, the Associated Press said there could be problems getting enough sand to fill the bags.

"We've got sand coming in from all across the country to make sure that we build the walls necessary to save the towns,” Nixon said. “We're going to have plenty of sand to make sure that mission is fulfilled.”

At Jefferson City, the river rolls past the State Capitol, still dozens of yards away from and about eight feet below the top of the primary levee.

Every levee that fails upstream will take some of the pressure off here. Right now, it’s not so much the depth of the water as it is the speed that creates an impression.

“Current that usually, at low level, moves about two and a half miles an hour, at that level will move as much as 13 miles an hour and could scour,” Nixon said. “So we’re going to have to be vigilant and ready all the way down the Missouri River.

Operators of Gavins Point Dam said the release is still far from the maximum capability there, which si 584,000 cubic feet per second.