USCG Closes Portion of Missouri River

The Coast Guard issued a waterway closure to all vessel traffic on the Missouri River from mile marker 450 near St. Joseph, Missouri, to mile marker 550 approximately 50 miles south of Omaha, Nebraska, due to high water levels and dangerous currents, Friday.

The Coast Guard and Army Corps of Engineers are requesting all operators create as minimal wake as possible between mile marker 375 near Kansas City, Missouri, to mile marker 450 near St. Joseph, Missouri, on the Missouri River to minimize levee damage.

Restrictions to operations will be lifted as soon as conditions improve.

“The safety of the maritime public is the Coast Guard’s top priority,” said Lt. James Long, Coast Guard Sector Upper Mississippi River, the contingency planning and force readiness chief.

The Coast Guard captain of the port determines when to issue a river closure by following a waterways action plan, which provides marine industry, the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, state and local governments with a coordinated plan for facilitating the safe and orderly movement of traffic during extreme conditions on the inland rivers.