Federal officials were monitoring 19 vulnerable levees on the rising Mississippi River and its tributaries, warning that hundreds of homes in IL and Missouri could be threatened by a rare winter flood that already forced the partial closure of interstate highways and widespread evacuations.
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In central and southern IL, flood warnings were in effect two days after a winter storm brought sleet and icy rain.
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But on Wednesday, 780,000 cubic feet of water gushed through St. Louis every second – about 67 billion cubic feet of water a day. But a spokeswoman for the Department of Transportation told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (http://bit.ly/1YTOKkk ) the detours are temporary to move in more equipment for flood-fighting.
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Constand reported the incident to police at the time, who investigated and closed the case when officials declined to prosecute. Inside, he seemed to have trouble seeing the paperwork and finding the place to sign, and his lawyers helped him hold the pen.
In this aerial photo, flood water covers Interstate 44, Wednesday, Dec 30, 2015, in Valley Park, Mo.
Governor Jay Nixon has imposed a state of emergency in Missouri, which the NWS anticipates will suffer “major to historic river flooding through early next week”.
Since the 2011 flood, the Corps of Engineers has worked to strengthen the levee system in places that were hard-hit, like Cairo, Illinois, with projects like installing underground barriers to keep water from seeping through porous soil under the levees.
The swollen Mississippi River has barge traffic at a standstill north of St. Louis. A treatment plant in the southwest Missouri town of Springfield also flooded this week and released raw sewage.
In Eureka, southwest of St. Louis, firefighters and their boats have been in high demand since Tuesday, accounting for about four dozen rescues of people in their homes, businesses or vehicles.
People who live in the area and farmers tell me they’re taking precautions now.
Local officials in Perryville have been working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to fortify the Bois Brule levee on the Mississippi River to protect area homes and businesses, including Sabreliner Corporation and Gilster-Mary Lee.
Almost a dozen other levees considered at risk for “possible significant distress”, were holding Thursday, but people were moving out just in case.
The human toll so far: At least 20 people dead over several days in Missouri and IL, the Associated Press reported. The floodwaters there destroyed a leftover film set used in the 2003 remake of “Where the Red Fern Grows”.
On Wednesday night, officers began rerouting traffic on I-55 at the Meramec as crews pumped water and piled sandbags.
Other rivers are also expected to reach new highs, with the Meramec forecast to crest at Valley Park, Missouri, at a record 42 feet (12.8 meters).
“This is 4 feet (1.2 meters) above the worst flood we ever had”, Coffey said after helping to put sandbags around a school. Heavy rain continued in parts of the South, such as Georgia and eastern Alabama, which has in parts seen more than 14 inches of rain since December 21.
“We haven’t seen any levee failures”, and that should remain true, said Rene Poche, a spokesman for the corps.
In the southwestern Missouri tourist mecca of Branson, residents of about 150 duplexes and homes had to evacuate Wednesday due to flooding from a manmade lake. But the shopping district along the lake was still open, Fire Chief Ted Martin said, adding, “it has been packed with people, and I don’t know where all of them have come from”.
The U.S. flooding is occurring at the same time as historic El Nino-related flooding across northern England.
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Missouri National Guard liaison officers are on the way to emergency operations centers in Perry, St. Charles, Cape Girardeau, Jefferson, St. Louis and Franklin counties, where the flood stage of the Mississippi River is expected to exceed the 1993 record levels in the coming days.
