Towns south of St. Louis brace for Mississippi River floods

The flooding is set to get much worse as the river is expected to rise another foot-and-a-half (45cm) before cresting this weekend. The Missouri Department of Transportation reopened the east-west interstate late Friday morning.

“Major flooding is occurring or forecast on the MS and OH rivers and tributaries in Missouri, Illinois, and Kentucky, with record flooding at several locations”, the National Weather Service said. Hundreds of structures have been damaged or destroyed, local officials said.

The US Coast Guard issued a high water safety advisory on Thursday for more than 560 miles of the Lower Mississippi River from Caruthersville, Missouri, to near Natchez, Mississippi.

More than 100,000 people were forced to evacuate their homes in areas bordering Paraguay, Uruguay, Brazil and Argentina after floods due to heavy summer rains caused by El Niño, authorities have said.

Meanwhile, floodwaters were surrounding the nearby town of Allenville.

Sandbags were placed on top of a levee surrounding an Ameren Corp. substation near Cape Girardeau in hopes of keeping it dry.

There was some relief, however, in the St. Louis area of Missouri, where flooding was at last receding.

Firemen spray water towards water seepage under the city’s makeshift flood levee in downtown Alton, Ill., Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2015.

Highway 109, another busy St. Louis County roadway, reopened around 6 a.m. Friday.

The Mississippi River is expected to reach almost 15 feet above flood stage on Thursday at St. Louis, which would be the second-worst flood on record, behind only the devastating 1993 flood.

While St. Louis itself was not flooded, hundreds of homes in its southwestern suburbs were damaged and residents in hundreds of others had to leave as water approached the tops of levees.

Alexander County Board Chairman Chalen Tatum said sandbagging efforts were cut off because it was simply too risky for the volunteers. There were no immediate reports of damage.

“We are breathing a bit easier”, said Sandra Cabot, director of tourism for the historic French settlement that dates to the 18th century. An OHP spokesman did not immediately return a phone call for comment.

Video: Severe Storms Sweep Across U.S. His friend, Chase Morland, was found dead on Monday.

Anheuser-Busch has provided or 84,672 cans of drinking water for use by St. Louis-area and Oklahoma residents affected by flooding and storms, the brewery announced. The declaration helps makes state resources available for communities to recover from flooding.

Divers have concentrated their search in flooded areas where one of the teen’s cellphone was tracked.

(Rich Saal/The State Journal-Register via AP).

Fifteen people have died in Missouri in the US Midwest floods and seven in IL.

He and his 60-year-old mother Linda were staying at a Red Cross shelter at a church after their mobile home park in Arnold, Missouri was washed away by the surging Meramec River.

“While the rains have stopped, we’re continuing to see more communities battling flood waters in order to protect their residents and critical facilities”, Gov. Rauner said in a release. The Iowa National Guard has agreed to provide support to Missouri personnel, but hasn’t deployed anyone yet.

After watching the rushing flood waters flow right through the business, operations manager Helminger is dreading the cleanup and rebuilding. Both Union Pacific and Amtrak suspended rail service in parts of the St. Louis area.

MoDOT spokeswoman Shaunda White says the stretch of roadway typically sees 76,000 vehicles daily.

But many places around St. Louis are less fortunate, and water has submerged neighborhoods, schools and shopping centers; carried off whole houses; and killed 14 people in the state.

This graphic from the National Weather service shows how Meramec River levels smashed a previous record earlier Thursday-and how water levels are already dropping.

The northbound lanes of Hwy 61/67 remain open as of 4:30 a.m. on Thursday. Barnes says the shutdown “ensures the safety of everyone”.