End In Sight For Mississippi Flooding

Small Missouri Towns See Mighty River Begin To Crest, But Threat Not Passed Yet

(CBS/ AP)  The water is still well above the banks of the upper Mississippi River, but residents of flooded towns in the U.S. Midwest and those protected by levees and sandbags can see an ending: The river is cresting.

"It's quieter compared to earlier this week," said Louisiana emergency management director Mike Lesley, where sandbagging has largely ceased. This past weekend, he said, "I actually got some sleep."

The river started cresting Sunday at Canton, Missouri. In Mark Twain's hometown, Hannibal emergency management director John Hark said he was confident the town's levees would hold as the river begins to recede.

A reminder the threat had not passed came Sunday in Lincoln County, Missouri, where a levee overtopped and flooded about 1,000 acres and fewer than half a dozen homes.

"It just blew through our sandbags," said Lincoln County emergency management spokesman Andy Binder. Farther down river, the river dropped a bit Sunday.

Still, the devastation is widespread: The storms and flooding that started in early June have forced thousands from their homes across six states, killing 24 and injuring roughly 150.

Rural areas such as Lincoln County suffered the worst. There, more than 300 homes were flooded after more than 90 percent of the county's levees were overtopped.

In Canton, hundreds of volunteers and National Guard members spent the past week using sandbags in a battle to spare that town's levee a similar fate. Volunteers were back out Sunday, searching for leaks along the earthen structure that appeared to be holding up, said Monica Heaton, the city's emergency operations spokeswoman.

"Everything is in a wait and see mode," she said.

In Cedar Rapids, Iowa, each flooded home is expected to produce one ton of garbage, reports CBS News correspondent Ben Tracy. Overall, the city's 300,000 cubic yards of debris would fill two football fields 60 feet deep.

Building inspectors are now touring flooded homes, posting tags on those that may need to be knocked down - nearly 3,000 in all, Tracy adds.

Since the last devastating floods in 1993, more than 30,000 homes have been built in areas along the Mississippi River in places that were underwater, reports Tracy.

Sporadic rains expected throughout the week in eastern Missouri and southern Illinois will be scattered and light and shouldn't increase the flooding hazard, said National Weather Service meteorologist Ben Miller.

Miller said the river will start to recede after remaining at crest level for longer than initially expected. A series of levee breaches let flood waters spread over a wide swath of land in Missouri and Illinois, and Miller said that water will take time to drain back into the river and flow downstream.

"You don't have as high a crest, but yet you still have higher levels for a long period had (the levees) not broken," Miller said.

[downsteamjim]

The article seems to indicate that Mike Lesley is from the state of Louisiana. That is not the case. The levees are fine here. The Mississippi River will not even approach flood stage. The only effect on the state has been a longer than average crawfish season.

[denn034]

Good to see and condolences to all concerned.

[dvsden]

"End in sight.." Remember it is only June. In ''93, the worst weekend of flooding ocurred in the first weekend in Aug after more rain throughout the summer.

And guess what... a wetter than average July is in the forecast. Good thing that after ''93, the towns and suburbs dotting the rivers near STL built millions of dollars of strip malls and homes reinforced by levees that choke off the river downstream, causing more flooding upstream.

[faith_in_w]

acolton1, thats not nice to say about our glorious President Bush.

[acolton1]

faith_in_w

I hope you were not talking about George W Bush because he is Satin and is the biggest looser this country has ever had as President.

I live in the Mid-West & in Missouri and the only reason the levees did not break in St Louis area is because they broke up stream and that let the pressure off down stream. I have never seen the Missouri River so high about 10 days ago in Kansas City up by Argosey Casino.

[faith_in_w]

George the Blessed put his palms out and has miraclously pushed the floodwaters back. We should all be grateful to him.