Governors tour flooded areas amid threat to more homes

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

Signs that floodwaters were headed south emerged as the NWS issued a major flooding designation on Saturday to Osceola, Arkansas, where the Mississippi River reached above 10.7 metres, well above the flood stage.

In Missouri, Noelle Pace said she packed up electronics, some furniture and her 4-year-old son’s clothing and toys and left Pacific on December 28, the day after she received a request to evacuate.

“We are told this flood will be just below the historic record flood of 2011”, Bryant said in a statement. In Shreveport, hydro-meteorological technician Lisa May said she had heard of flooding only along one road and in low areas of some parks. By Saturday floodwaters had begun to subside in many areas, reopening several important highways, after topping levees in the region late on Friday.

The levee in the far southwestern tip of IL protects the towns of Olive Branch, Hodges Park, Unity and rural homes. Missouri American Water spokeswoman Ann Dettmer said the water in homes and businesses in the area still is safe to use.

“I didn’t believe it was going to get like this”, he told CNN.

A second levee has “good potential” of overtopping, Patty Thompson with the Illinois Emergency Management Agency said.

In neighboring IL, where nine people have died, the danger of flooding remains and authorities continue asking drivers to take precautions, because cars caught in floodwaters is one of the main causes of death.

Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner toured southern Illinois flooding Saturday and said the situation in Alexander County was among the worst he’s seen. On Friday, he ordered Illinois National Guard troops into flooded areas to help with evacuation.

Residents of towns in far southern IL anxiously awaited flood waters from the swollen Mississippi River to peak on Sunday, with hundreds electing to remain in their homes.

On Tuesday, the Fenton Wastewater Treatment plant was taken off-line after being flooded with water from the Meramec River, resulting in raw sewage being diverted into the Mississippi River for several days. He was still unpacking Saturday after the evacuation was lifted.

“It was bad from every direction”, Newman said.

In south-eastern Missouri, the rising MS damaged about 20 homes in Cape Girardeau and threatened a power substation, though a flood wall protected numerous community’s 40,000 residents. The Mississippi peaked at 48.9 feet Friday night, four-tenths of a foot above the 1993 record, but short of the 50-foot mark projected.

“It’s still a very significant flood”, Spriggs said.

Flood warnings were also in effect for parts of Texas, Oklahoma, the Carolinas, Alabama and Kentucky, the NWS said, while major flooding was occurring on the Arkansas River and its tributaries in that state. The Ohio River, which also borders Alexander County and which empties into the Mississippi River, also experienced flooding, reaching 56 feet on Sunday, 16 feet above flood stage.

The Red crested at 10 p.m. Saturday at 31.55 feet, and will fall slowly through the week, National Weather Service reports said Sunday.

Officials in Louisiana are checking levees daily, and ExxonMobil has made a decision to shut its 340,571 barrel-per-day refined-products terminal in Memphis. The tiny town of Allenville, Mo., experienced the flood, but its residents are “used to being isolated and cut off” and began using boats to get around, the Chicago Tribune reported.