Sandbagging efforts underway in Butler County as hundreds still displaced from homes

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Intro:	Flood relief efforts continue in Poplar Bluff, as Missouri National Guard and the district representative help with sandbagging and cleanup.
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Wrap: Around 500 homes have been under a mandatory evacuation order since yesterday, with over 1,000 people already evacuated from Butler County.

Rescue officials say they expect Black River to crest, but flash flooding still poses problems.

Republican Poplar Bluff Representative Todd Richardson is in the district talking about possible solutions for the county's faulty levees.

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Description: "Our levee system, which is almost 100 years old and does a great job in a lot of areas, obviously has some weak spots. And everyone at the state level is looking to improve our levee systems to try to prevent this in the future."

Richardson says vast amounts of farmland and crops have been destroyed, and a major manufacturing base is shut down.

He says people will be displaced from their homes even after water levels go down.

From the Missouri State Capitol, I'm Meghann Mollerus.

Intro:	As Missouri National Guard assists with flooding relief in Butler County, district representative says state will discuss levee improvements to prevent future flooding.
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Wrap: This is the second time Black River in Poplar Bluff has flooded in the past three years and caused major damage and displacement.

Republican Poplar Bluff Representative Todd Richardson says the disaster has destroyed a vast amount of farmland, crops, and homes.

He says some people will be out of their homes for a long period of time, even after water levels go down.

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Description: "The last estimate I got was from a couple of hours ago that about 500 homes have been under mandatory evacuation order since yesterday. Emergency responders have evacuated a little more than 1,000 people at this point."

Richardson currently is in the county assisting the National Guard with sandbagging and providing shelter for victims.

From the Missouri State Capitol, I'm Meghann Mollerus.

Intro:	Though flood rescue officials expect Black River in Poplar Bluff to crest, the flood already has caused 1,000 people to evacuate their homes.
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Wrap: Around 500 homes are under an emergency evacuation order as a result of severe flooding and faulty 100-year-old levees.

Poplar Bluff Republican Representative Todd Richardson is in the district assisting the National Guard with relief efforts.

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Description: "We're very hopeful that by tomorrow, we'll start seeing some improvement, but this is an event that's going to be affecting people for some time in the future. Even once the water goes down, there's a significant amount of cleanup that's going to happen. People are going to be displaced from their homes for a good period of time."

This is the second time in three years the county has been severely affected by flooding.

Richardson says a vast amount of farmland and crops have been destroyed, and a major manufacturing base will be shut down for days.

From the Missouri State Capitol, I'm Meghann Mollerus.