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BOONE COUNTY, MO. -- Boone County authorities are preparing for possible flooding as the Missouri River continues to rise.

Officials at the McBaine Water Treatment Plant south of Columbia said they learned plenty of lessons from the Great Flood of ’93.

The last time flood waters covered the small Boone County town of McBaine was about 3 years ago.  Flood waters destroyed several homes, but the Columbia Water Treatment Plant was spared.  After the flood of ’93, the plant’s flood wall was built 6-feet higher.  Columbia’s Water Treatment Plant can withstand Missouri River levels of up to 40 feet.

Plant officials are preparing for the worst.

Water Operations Manager Floyd Turner said, “We’re also doing extra little things to prepare like making sure that we have a boat that’s ready to go in case we have to go to the well fields.  We’re preparing sandbags in case we have to find little spots in the flood gate that are leaking a little bit that we could plug.”

Turner said his crews are also checking emergency generators at the plant in case flood waters knock out the power.

Emergency management authorities estimate that we’ll see significant rises in the Missouri River in Boone County by next week.  They’re advising people who live along the river to be watchful of flood waters and have an evacuation plan in place.

Authorities expect Boone County areas such as Rocheport, McBaine, Hartsburg and Huntsdale to see significant rises in the river and probable flooding of surrounding land.

Turner said, “They need to expect the worst and be prepared.”

Turner said levees in the Columbia area are a lot better than they were during the flood of ’93, but he never underestimates the power of Mother Nature.