Monday, Jun 20 2011 3:45PM
Flooding in the Missouri River is creating economic issues for residents living in the Midwest and the Plains.
A new report says rural economies in the Midwest and Great Plains regions could suffer further after dealing with flooding and severe weather earlier this year.
Creighton University's Rural Mainstreet Index shows rural communities continued to progress economically for the eighth consecutive month in May. However, some of the report's authors are worried flooding from the Missouri River may hamper that progress in states such as Colorado and Wyoming.
For instance, though the loan volume index in the report rose in May, the home sales index fell from April's level - a statistic likely affected from recent flooding.
"Even though the Rural Mainstreet economy is expanding, I expect flooding and weather-related issues to slow growth in the months ahead," said Ernie Goss, professor at Creighton University who helped formulate the report.
In addition to flooding from the Missouri River, the Colorado Water Conservation Board projects that Colorado will be affected by flooding from the Elk, Colorado and North Platte rivers.