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WORLD> America
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Forecaster: End is near to Mississippi River rise
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-06-23 19:55 LOUISIANA, Mo. -- The water is still well above the banks of the upper Mississippi River, but residents of both flooded towns and those protected by levees and sandbags can see an ending: The river is cresting.
"It's quieter compared to earlier this week," said Louisiana emergency management director Mike Lesley, where sandbagging has largely ceased. This past weekend, he said, "I actually got some sleep." The river started cresting Sunday at Canton, Mo., not far from the Iowa state line, through the lock and dam near Quincy, Ill. Next up, according to federal forecasters, were crests expected Monday from Hannibal to Clarksville. In Mark Twain's hometown, Hannibal emergency management director John Hark said he was confident the town's levees would hold as the river begins to recede. Folks in Winfield and Grafton, Ill., will have to wait a little longer, as forecasters said the river would crest there on Wednesday. A reminder the threat had not passed came Sunday in Lincoln County, Mo., where a levee near Winfield overtopped and flooded about 1,000 acres and fewer than half a dozen homes. "It just blew through our sandbags," said Lincoln County emergency management spokesman Andy Binder. But he, too, was confident the secondary levees protecting Winfield and nearby Elsberry would hold. |
