New Franklin evacuation order lifted

Friday around 10:30 a.m. the New Franklin Police Department announced the mandatory evacuation order for the town was lifted because floodwaters had started to go down.

According to the department’s Facebook page, six homes in New Franklin still have water around them.

Alycia and John Ewings were in New Franklin on Friday to check on their home which has sitting water in the basement. The water in their yard covered more than half of the two sheds outside of their back door.

“I come over here every day and check on the house and check the water level and make sure it didn’t get in the house, you know, because if it got in the house then we’ll have to rip out the floors and, you know, all that major stuff,” John Ewings said.

The evacuation lasted about a week as floodwater from the Missouri River and Sulphur Creek inundated southern Howard County.

The Missouri River was cresting Friday at several points in mid-Missouri after spending weeks at major flood stage in several locations. In Jefferson City the river crest was among the 10 highest ever recorded before it began falling Friday.

The Ewings have been using two burn barrels in their yard to measure how much the water has gone down.

They have been staying with their children and grandson just outside of Boonville.

“It’s kind of a tight bit, but we’ve been managing. I know it’s an inconvenience on them because it’s kind of crowded,” John Ewings said.

“Not only is it with us, but we also have two dogs and a cat. They have three dogs and a cat. So it’s a big happy family,” Alycia Ewings said.

Highway 5 into New Franklin from Boonville is still closed. They said it has been a major headache to get back and forth.

“It’s a lot longer. You know, it’s 40 minutes to an hour depending,” John Ewings said.

“Compared to a 15-minute drive,” Alycia Ewings said.

The Ewings said they were relieved to hear the evacuation was lifted and the water has started to go down, even though they will not return home until the water is out of their house.

“At one point it was over them burn barrels and was threatening to come into my kitchen. And so, we was really worried about it, but by the grace of God it started going down,” John Ewings said.

John Ewings said he was not entirely sure what clean up would look like for them once the water finally goes down.

“It’s done some damage to my foundation over there. It kind of pushed the brick out because the mortar was loose, but, you know, I don’t know if there’s much you can do about it. You just move on. I mean, the important stuff is still in tact,” said John Ewings. “Of course the stench. I mean, you can just smell that decaying stuff or whatever it is,” he said.

He said they will have to wait for the house to dry out before they can really be sure, but he was already surveying what would need to be done.

“I built a new wall on the back side of the house last summer, and I don’t know if it fared too good after being soaked in water for, you know. I’ll probably have to replace that wall back there,” John Ewings said.

They said if the water continues to drop they can see themselves at home again within a few weeks.