Louis-area residents face massive cleanup, recovery

Signs that floodwaters were headed south began to emerge as the NWS issued a major flooding designation on Saturday for Osceola, Arkansas, where the Mississippi River reached above 35 feet (10.7 m), well above the 28-foot flood stage.

The National Weather Service reported MS floodwaters in IL and Missouri began cresting and receding on Saturday after thousands of people had to be evacuated from their homes earlier in the week when the floods destroyed hundreds of structures.

Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner toured southern Illinois flooding Saturday and said the situation in Alexander County was among the worst he’s seen. At least 31 people have died in Missouri, Illinois, Oklahoma and Arkansas, a lot of them after vehicles drove into flooded areas.

If the federal emergency declaration request is approved, the Missouri National Guard will manage the program at the state level and coordinate with the federal and local governments.

The water is moving south and is predicted to affect southern states along the Mississippi River, including Memphis and Dover, both located in Tennessee.

Levee systems created to control water flow have already been overwhelmed in many areas of Missouri and IL and additional levee failures are possible, increasing the severity and coverage of the flooding.

The Omaha, Neb.-based Union Pacific said Wednesday that 70 trains in the St. Louis area had been held or rerouted because of high water. “Federal assistance with debris removal can help ensure the region moves forward from this historic disaster”.

About two dozen homes were damaged in Cape Girardeau, a community in southwest Missouri, after the MS crested Friday night. “Hypothermia is a big risk to people’s lives”. The Kaskaskia River there topped the previous record by more than 5 feet. In Shreveport, hydro-meteorological technician Lisa May says she’s heard of flooding only along one road and in low areas of some parks.

A lack of heavy rainfall this week will mean that downriver cities, including Baton Rouge and New Orleans, may experience some flooding but not the major flooding seen in Missouri and IL last week, said Jack Boston, a senior meteorologist with Accuweather.

Among the displaced were Damon Thorne, 44, and his 60-year-old mother, Linda, who live in an Arnold mobile home park that washed away after a small private levee proved no match for the surging Meramec.

Hundreds of people were evacuated from towns in eastern Missouri, including Pacific and Eureka, as homes took on water.

St. Louis-area cleanup largely was focused around the Meramec.

“What we’d like people to know is that in Cape Girardeau there have been so many precautions in place that even given the magnitude of this event it’s really gone remarkably well for us”, Molly Hood, Cape Girardeau’s deputy city manager, said Saturday.

The National Weather Service on Sunday canceled a flash flood watch for Alexander and two other IL counties, where record or near-record river levels have threatened levees.

The river is expected to crest early this week along the border of northern Tennessee and Arkansas and towards the end of the week farther south into Mississippi.

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon says he’s asking for a federal emergency declaration in the wake of severe flooding in the St. Louis area.