The Coffeyville City Commission met at 1:00 this afternoon to approve a disaster declaration for the city due to the flooding situation.  The Independence City Commission is scheduled to meet at 2:00 for the same reason.  The disaster declarations will allow the cities to request assistance from the state. 

City and county officials were alerted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers this morning about the release of water from area lakes that feed into the Verdigris River.   The National Weather Service in Wichita has projected that the Verdigris in Independence will reach 44.2 feet by Monday afternoon and 25.5 feet in Coffeyville by Tuesday.  The City of Coffeyville said in a release earlier today that the tiop of the levee is 26.5 feet.

Meanwhile, flooding issues continue to impact other southeast Kansas and northeast Oklahoma communities.  Greenwood County Emergency Management officials have requested all residents below the Fall River Dam to evacuate.  A shelter for those residents of Greenwood County has been set up in Eureka.

In Nowata County Highway 169 between Watova and Talala is closed due to flooding.  Nowata County’s Emergency Manager, Laurie Summers says there have been a number of reports of area residents being stranded and they continue to make rescues.  She said they are currently working to set up a Red Cross Shelter in Nowata.