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Holt County, Mo., reports Mo. River breach

A map of the state of Missouri highlighting, in red, Holt County, where the levee breach has been reported.
(via Wikimedia Commons)
A map of the state of Missouri highlighting, in red, Holt County, where the levee breach has been reported.

Updated 3:04 p.m. with changed breach size in Holt County.

Authorities in northwest Missouri say a Missouri River levee has breached in Holt County.

The Holt County breach is about 225-feet wide through a levee about five miles west of the town of Big Lake.

Holt County Clerk Kathy Kunkel said the breach is pushing water onto area agricultural land, and there are no current plans to fill the breach because it would not be safe.

The county has warned the 30 remaining residents in Big Lake to evacuate. The town has about 150 residents, but most have already left.

The Holt County breach is the second Missouri River breach reported Monday. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineersearlier reported a levee breach north of Holt County in Atchison County.

Kunkel said a secondary levee in Holt County is also likely to fail.