Meeting date set for working group overseeing flood recovery

JEFFERSON CITY — The Flood Recovery Advisory Working Group will hold its first meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 27.

The working group was established by Governor Mike Parson in July citing the states limited resources to help with the ongoing clean up efforts and rebuilding of extensive levee damage. The governor was set to speak at the event.

“The Flood Recovery Advisory Working Group will play a critical role in our path forward as communities across Missouri continue to recover and rebuild from record-level flooding this year,” Parson said in a release. “We’re looking forward to the group’s input on our flood recovery priorities and improvements we can make to better protect our citizens and infrastructure.”

Several state agencies will be working in the group including the the Department of Natural Resources and the State Emergency Management Agency.

“The purpose of the Flood Recovery Advisory Working Group is to provide input on the state’s short-, medium- and long-term flood recovery priorities and feedback on the state’s current levee system with suggested changes to benefit Missouri and its citizens,” Department of Natural Resources deputy director Dru Buntin said. “The group also will identify areas where attention is needed and provide input on priorities for allocation of state funding as we recover from this year’s flooding.”

The executive order directs the working group to submit an initial report to the Governor with findings and suggestions by Dec. 31, 2019, with a final report due May 31, 2020.

The meeting on Aug. 27 was set to be held at the Lewis and Clark State Office Building in Jefferson City at 9 a.m. and open to the public.