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

The release of water from Gavin's Point Dam in South Dakota Tuesday reached its maximum of 150,000 cubic feet per second moving through the flood gates and into the Missouri River.

The water is expected to push out at this rate for at least a month.

While the Corps of Engineers expects the release to ease flooding upstream, people in central Missouri are preparing for rising river levels in the weeks to come.

The Fact Finder Team found out what Cole County residents can expect.

The river in Jefferson City is expected to reach a flood stage of 23 feet by Sunday.

But in the weeks to come, it's predicted to go even higher, to a depth of 27 to 35 feet.

So what exactly floods when the river gets that high?

If the Missouri River gets to 27 feet, the Sandy Hook area off Highway 179 will start to flood.

If and when the river reaches 29 feet, it will cause flooding on the Osage River because the Missouri River will start backing up into the Osage. If this happens it will flood many small towns near the Osage River.

If the Missouri River crests at 30 feet, it will overtop the levee that protects the Jefferson City Memorial Airport and begin flooding.

If and when the river rises to 31 feet, it will start flooding many levees like the Capitol View Levee, the Wainwright Levee, and the Jacobs Levee.

Then it will start flooding the train tracks and smaller towns near the river.

Then if the river rises to the highest predicted level of 35 feet this summer it will start flooding some parts of Missouri Boulevard, like the ball fields and the ice skating rink.

If the river reaches 35 feet, that is still 3 feet lower than the flood of '93.

If you would like to see more on what will flood if the Missour River reaches a certain floodstage click here: