The City of Independence joins the City of Coffeyville in making disaster declarations for the cities due to the flooding situation.  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 top of the levee is 26.5 feet.  The City of Independence has closed the Pine Street access to the city dam.

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 Bartlesville a number of area streets are closed to flooding in the far northwest section of the city.