More levees at risk as rivers swell in Midwest

In addition to the flood wall, the city of Cape Girardeau has spent years strengthening the nearby system of levees, and it has, with some federal money, bought out homes in the Mississippi River’s flood plain, Nicholas J.C. Pistor reported for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

(David Spencer/The State Journal-Register via AP).

Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner is continuing his tour of flood-damaged areas in central and southern Illinois.

(Justin Sellers/The Clarion-Ledger via AP).

Towns farther down the MS hoped their levees would resist rising river levels.

(Robert Cohen/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP). The Thornes were staying in a Red Cross shelter at a Baptist church. “If I come down…”

St. Louis, Mo., can finally clean up after historic floods as the swollen MS river surges downstream, carrying with it the risk of more flooding in rural Missouri and IL.

Thousands of people evacuated from their homes earlier in the week were waiting to return to their communities and begin the process of cleaning up.

The floods claimed the lives of at least 31 people in Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma and Arkansas, most of whom drove into flooded areas after days of downpours.

Safety zone between mile markers 737 and 734 on the Lower Mississippi River.

Gov. Jay Nixon tonight announced President Barack Obama has approved the Governor’s request for a federal emergency declaration to speed debris removal and relieve the strain of response and recovery costs in the St. Louis region.

“The high water may have passed here in Eureka and in other parts of the St. Louis region but behind me you see just a tiny fraction of the trail of destruction that the flood water has left”.

“Prior to levee building, the river was a wild thing and it spread out between the river bluffs”, Knaup said Monday.

“We heard it was coming”, he said of the flooding. They spread quickly as riverfront communities developed, but floods have continued to pose threats ever since. She felt lucky to find the damage isolated to her crawl space when she returned for the first time Thursday.

“We’re just basically homeless”.

Friedman says she sold her kitchen cabinets to a contractor and put other possessions in storage. The worst flooding was on the smaller Meramec River.

Other southern Missouri and IL towns were getting ready for the high-water mark.

Volunteers form a human chain as they help load sandbags in St. Louis on Tuesday. Two wastewater treatment plants were so damaged by the floodwaters that raw sewage spewed into the river. Hundreds of people were evacuated in Pacific, Eureka, Valley Park and Arnold, where many homes took in water. He was still unpacking Saturday after the evacuation was lifted.

Molly Hood, Cape Girardeau’s deputy city manager, said Saturday the river didn’t reach the anticipated high crests, but that was likely from levee breaches on the IL side.

Arkansas officials said they expected the river, which bisects the state from west to southeast before joining the MS, to crest late Saturday.

Cape Girardeau resident June Campbell watched the river move by from high ground, remembering how floods had incapacitated the town in past years, while they now have left it relatively undamaged.

On Thursday, the river is expected to reach almost 13 feet above flood stage in St. Louis.

ExxonMobil chose to shut its refined-products terminal in Memphis, as floodwaters threatened to inundate the facility south of the city’s downtown, according to Reuters.

“It’s going to get ugly”, he said.

Several states between Ohio River and eastern Oklahoma have been contending with torrents of water that are unusual during the winter season, the National Weather Service said.

Amtrak service between St. Louis and Kansas City, Missouri, is operating again, now that floodwaters have subsided. Johnson reported from Chicago.