Gov. Parson wants to create new flood response agency

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri Gov. Mike Parson wants to spend $10.4 million to create a new office that would help the state better prepare for floods and drought. Missouri Department of Natural Resources spokeswoman Connie Patterson told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that creating the new Missouri Hydrology Information Center is part of the state’s response to the 2019 floods in the Missouri and Mississippi river basins that caused roughly $20 billion damage. Some of the information the new office would collect may already exist at the U.S. Geologic Survey office or state emergency management agency, but Patterson said the new agency would be designed to be a user-friendly clearinghouse of information.