Flooding 2011

Help finally may arrive for former residents of the small, black community of Pinhook, Missouri, which floodwaters destroyed in 2011. For the past six years, they have held on to hope and little else. Living in rental housing in Sikeston, Charleston, East Prairie and elsewhere, they dreamed of relocating and starting a new life together...

Cape Girardeau officials closed South Sprigg Street at Old Highway 61 on Sunday afternoon when flooding made the area hazardous. The flooding also will affect city services, as the transfer station will be closed until at least Wednesday. Leaf and Christmas-tree pickup are suspended, but there has been an area designated for Christmas tree drop-off in Arena Park...

It's feeling more like Easter than Christmas in Southeast Missouri, with temperatures in the 60s and severe-weather warnings being issued. The National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma, issued several watches and warnings for the area Wednesday. A tornado watch was in effect all afternoon in Bollinger, Cape Girardeau, Perry and Scott counties, among others, in Southeast Missouri, as well as Alexander and Union counties in Illinois...

A Southeast Missouri farmer whose property was damaged by floodwaters after the Birds Point Levee breach in 2011 has won his case against an insurance company in federal court. Cornerstone National Insurance Co. initially refused to pay Mississippi County farm owner McIvan Jones' claims, saying "recovery was precluded by 'flood-in-progress' exclusions" in the policies, according to a news release from Jones' attorneys...

Mississippi County today shows acres of golden wheat with stubby green corn stalks and soybean sprouts making their way through the earth. Just three years ago, the scene was drastically different, as Mississippi River floodwaters ravaged the fields, leaving behind destroyed land, empty homes and rubble for roads...

OLIVE BRANCH, Ill. -- Two years after Alexander County, Ill., applied for a federal grant to buy out about 135 flood-prone homes and businesses, appraisers have begun establishing what those structures were worth before the Mississippi River overflowed its banks and inundated them...

GRAFTON, Ill. -- The Mississippi River started its slow decline at some problematic spots Monday, but the spring flood is far from over. The Mississippi and countless other Midwestern rivers still were significantly above flood stage, spurred by heavy rain last week. Levee breaks caused problems in Indiana, and floodwaters flirted with the Michigan State University campus...

OLIVE BRANCH, Ill.--Almost two years after enduring the worst flooding in recent memory, residents of Olive Branch finally will be in a position to decide their own destinies now that a buyout grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency has been approved...

After months of putting pressure on federal agencies to move forward with the next step in the St. Johns Bayou and New Madrid Floodway Project to no avail, Republican U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt on Monday announced he is placing a hold on the nomination of the Environmental Protection Agency's next administrator...

The Memphis district of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has mailed notices to individuals who reside in, operate and do business in the Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway that the U.S. government can flood the area within the floodway to reduce pressure on the regional flood-control system.within the floodway to reduce pressure on the regional flood-control system....

NEW MADRID, Mo. -- When it rains within a 480-square-mile area in Southeast Missouri -- in towns such as Commerce, Charleston, Sikeston and East Prairie -- water trickles down a vast matrix of ditches and canals, through narrow flood gates at New Madrid and spills into the Mississippi River...

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- The Mississippi River flooding of 2011 caused $2.8 billion in damage and tested the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' system of levees, reservoirs and floodways like never before, exposing vulnerabilities that need attention, a report released Monday said...

Calling ongoing delays in the St. Johns Bayou and New Madrid Floodway project "outrageous," U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., said Wednesday that he is "giving serious consideration" to blocking the appointment of a new Environmental Protection Agency administrator until progress is made...

Despite pressure by lawmakers and local stakeholders to resume reviewing plans to close a gap in the Mississippi River levee, federal agencies are not ready to move forward. They cite the need for further coordination and study. The St. Johns Bayou and New Madrid Floodway Project -- to close the 1,500-foot gap in the levee and protect homes and farmland from periodic flooding -- dates back to the 1950s. ...

Twenty months after the Birds Point levee was breached, two of the three crevasses created have been restored to the levee's original height. When floodwaters at Cairo, Ill., reached 61 feet and were still rising in May 2011, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers detonated explosives at three points along the levee, following an emergency plan created after the flood of 1927. ...

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill is joining two Republican colleagues in calling for federal agencies to move ahead with plans to close a 1,500-foot gap in a southeast Missouri levee, a project long delayed over environmental concerns...

The first phase of work to restore the Birds Point levee to its original height has been completed. Glen Bullington, a civil engineer technician with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, on Friday said the second phase of building on the levee is about 75 percent complete. ...

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- The remains of American Indian tribe members discovered in the Birds Point-New Madrid floodway in Missouri will be respectfully preserved under an agreement signed Tuesday. Leaders of the Quapaw Tribe and the Delaware Nation joined Col. ...

OLIVE BRANCH, Ill. -- Before long, the tiny Southern Illinois town of Olive Branch may not exist. Many residents are pursuing a federal buyout after Olive Branch was devastated by historic flooding in spring 2011. Until the day comes when it is no more, possibly the biggest draw in town is the Tour de Shawnee. ...

Progress is steadily being made with flood-recovery projects on both sides of the Mississippi River. Cairo, Ill., will be the beneficiary of a $7.8 million contract awarded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for its flood-control projects, and officials in the Missouri counties of Mississippi and New Madrid are pleased with efforts to repair levees that were intentionally breached during last year's massive flooding...

Members of Missouri's Interim Commission on Agriculture Innovation and Economic Recovery listened intently Tuesday as Mississippi County farmers described how homes, churches and crops washed away after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers intentionally breached the Birds Point levee last spring...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Farmers this spring were able to plant all but a few thousand acres of the land deluged by last year's flooding along on the Missouri River and the intentional breaching of a Mississippi River levee in southeast Missouri, U.S. Department of Agriculture figures show...

OLIVE BRANCH, Ill. -- Residents who lost their homes during last year's historic flood are making progress toward relocating their community out of the Mississippi River's path. The Olive Branch Area Community Development Corp. met Tuesday with advisers from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale to discuss the group's next steps. ...

OLIVE BRANCH, Ill. -- The Olive Branch Area Community Development Corp. will meet at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Alexander County Highway Department office in Olive Branch. The organization formed following the 2011 flood. It is seeking not-for-profit status in order to apply for grants to help purchase land where residents of Olive Branch can rebuild their community and avoid regular flooding...

Restoration of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' flood risk management system is moving along quickly through the summer in Missouri and Kentucky. The corps awarded contracts Tuesday for repair of the lower crevasse in the Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway levee in New Madrid County, Mo., and the installation of 112 relief wells and associated drainage work in Fulton County, Ky...

BENTON, Mo. -- Scott County officials have one less thing to worry about: the levee. Presiding Commissioner Jamie Burger said during the regular county Commission meeting that the county recently reviewed a letter from the Federal Emergency Management Agency regarding the levee from Commerce, Mo., to Birds Point -- and it was good news...

CHARLESTON, Mo. -- Mississippi County will not receive money from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for damage caused by the activation of the Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway in May 2011. County Clerk Junior DeLay presented a letter from the corps' Tort Claims Division dated July 17 to county commissioners during their regular weekly meeting Thursday...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Alexander County is still recovering from last year's flooding, local government officials say, but when the water comes next time, they believe they'll fare much better. Major projects to reconstruct and reinforce levee and drainage systems throughout the county are ongoing, or will soon begin. ...

A contract to begin rebuilding the lower crevasse in the Birds Point-New Madrid levee system should be awarded next week, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The corps released an update July 20 that said overall rebuilding efforts in the confluence area of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers are proceeding on time or are ahead of schedule, due in part to the weather...

A committee formed to assess the state's ongoing disaster recovery efforts will hold its first meeting next week. Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder of Cape Girardeau will lead the Interim Committee on Disaster Preparedness, Response and Recovery formed by state House Speaker Steven Tilley, R-Perryville. ...

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- The Army Corps of Engineers now believes the Birds Point levee in southeast Missouri will be fully restored by the end of the year, corps officials said Tuesday. The corps announced in May that it had awarded $20 million in contracts to repair the levee that was intentionally breached at the height of spring flooding in 2011, in part to help save the flood wall protecting nearby Cairo, Ill. ...

CAIRO, Ill. -- A breakdown of more than $100 million that will be spent for recovery projects in three states was announced by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers during a visit to Cairo on Thursday.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- A year after the Mississippi River swelled to near-historic proportions and flooded farms and homes from Illinois to Louisiana, the level along the waterway's southern half is so low that cargo barges have run aground and their operators have been forced to lighten their loads...

Cape Girardeau native Lt. Gov Peter Kinder will lead a commission that includes Southeast Missouri lawmakers to study disaster response.

Work will resume on the Birds Point levee now that a protest to a construction bid has been deemed "without merit" by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The storms that dumped 20 inches of rain in Cape Girardeau last April were more than Addie Marie Walker's roof could take. More than a year later, she was living in a house with a leaky roof, having been rejected by every agency she'd turned to for help...

WYATT, Mo. -- Work has stopped on the frontline levee that protects the Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway from the Mississippi River. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said in a news release Tuesday that work had stopped after a letter dated June 12 was received protesting the bid for repairs...

On Saturday, the Southeast Missouri American Red Cross and Southeast Missouri Salvation Army chapters will hold a Family Fun Festival to benefit local victims of disasters...

MILLER CITY, Ill. -- These farmers say they didn't have a choice. They couldn't wait for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to repair the Miller City levee after last spring's record-setting flood. They had crops to get planted and those crops needed protection...

ST. LOUIS -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Thursday it has awarded $20 million worth of contracts to three firms to repair the Birds Point levee, which was intentionally breached last year to alleviate flooding on the Mississippi River...

BISMARCK, N.D. -- Two U.S. senators who symbolize disagreements between upstream and downstream states over management of the Missouri River say last year's historic flooding was a unifying moment. Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., and Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., toured dams and levees along the river Tuesday and Wednesday. ...

A year after the worst flood longtime residents can remember, many are thinking of moving their community out of the river's path. A group of those whose homes were destroyed have organized to form the Olive Branch Area Community Development Corporation...

The Jackson, Gordonville and Delta Railroad is planning to abandon a 13-mile section of unused tracks and some Allenville residents are worried they will be left without an emergency flood escape route once the railbed is removed. The section of railway between Gordonville and Delta has not been used since 1997 and is in a dangerous state of disrepair in some sections, according to company president Robert L. ...

OLIVE BRANCH, Ill. -- Residents interested in rebuilding Olive Branch after last year's flood will meet today to discuss future plans. The meeting will begin at 4:30 p.m. at the Alexander County Highway Department, 26799 Highway 3 in Olive Branch...

A federal judge has tossed out a big portion of a class-action lawsuit brought by more than 140 Southeast Missouri farmers who are seeking millions from the U.S. government for damages caused by last year's intentional breaching of the Birds Point levee...

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began removing four vertical feet of temporary barriers along the top of two miles of the Birds Point levee on Thursday.

CHARLESTON, Mo. -- Gov. Jay Nixon made a stop in Southeast Missouri bringing good news for city and county officials: Additional funds to repair damage from last year's floods are on the way. The state will provide nearly $1.5 million in additional assistance to help several Missouri towns and counties in repairing or replacing roads, bridges and other public infrastructure damaged or destroyed by the devastating floods of 2011. ...

It was his call. Maj. Gen. Michael Walsh became a familiar figure in the days leading up to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' activation of the Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway. The soggy masses awaited word daily from the silver-haired two-star general who held the fate of communities in a half-dozen states in his hands. ...

Randy Sutton had heard that the three-star general with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had officially made the decision. He had seen the Missouri National Guard trucks roll through, ordering everyone from their homes. And now, the Mississippi County farmer was along a dark rainy roadway with everyone else awaiting the blast...

ST. LOUIS -- A year after the intentional breach of the Birds Point levee in Southeast Missouri, Sen. Roy Blunt is criticizing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for its rebuilding pace.

Farmers feared the worst as water rushed over fields of winter wheat, filled silos storing their profits and engulfed the houses they called home. A year after the intentional breach of the Birds Point levee by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, fourth generation floodway farmer Eddie Marshall is still repairing the damage and counting what the breach cost him...

It is still the biggest case that has been heard in the new federal courthouse in Cape Girardeau. The corridors and courtrooms were filled April 28, 2011, with contingents from Missouri, Illinois and Kentucky arguing that steps should be taken to protect their land and livelihoods while, outside, record flooding threatened, inch by inch, to wipe out residents along the Mississippi and Ohio rivers...

MOREHOUSE, Mo. -- Ed Stinnett kept a close eye on the red marks he and other Morehouse residents spray-painted on buildings in late April last year. During the afternoon and into the late evening of April 27, they checked them every hour. They knew more water was coming, and they might have to get going. They might have to leave their homes and businesses behind, at least for a few days...

Reservoirs were full, the rivers kept swelling and the rain kept coming. The Ohio River set a record of 61.1 feet on the Cairo, Ill., gauge. It was still climbing. Maj. Gen. Michael Walsh, president of the Mississippi River Commission, had a decision to make on May 1, 2011...

On this day, April 23 Cape river level: 35.3 feet Cape flood stage: 32 feet Cairo river level: 51 feet Cairo flood stage: 40 feet Rainfall: 3.10 inches Crest predictions along the Mississippi River and other waterways were on the rise. The crest at Cape Girardeau, originally set at just a few feet above flood stage, was revised to just short of 42 feet, nearly 10 feet above flood stage. The Way of the Cross was moved inside due to rainy weather...

Editor's note: April 22, 2011, was the first day Southeast Missouri fell under a flood warning. What transpired in the following weeks marked one of the biggest flooding events of the past 100 years. This is the first in a series of stories about the flood of 2011....

April 22 Every Missouri town along the Mississippi River was under a flood warning as the Mississippi spilled out over its banks. Significant rain was expected over the next several days. April 23 Crest predictions along the Mississippi River and other waterways in Missouri were on the rise, the result of several days of heavy rain. The crest at Cape Girardeau, originally set at just a few feet above flood stage, was revised to just short of 42 feet, nearly 10 feet above flood stage...

CHARLESTON, Mo. -- If things go as planned and the river doesn't rise, Mississippi County may see its levee restored to its original height. Presiding County Commissioner Carlin Bennett presented what sounded like good news about the frontline levee during the regular County Commission meeting Thursday...

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plans to release another report examining last year's flooding along the Missouri River. The Corps will release a report Friday looking at how much free space it would have needed in reservoirs along the river to handle last year's deluge of water...

WYATT, Mo. -- Mississippi County will receive another infusion of funding from the USDA's Emergency Watershed Protection Program to repair drainage ditches damaged after the Birds Point levee breach last year.

Counties ravaged by flooding last spring will receive additional funds from the U.S. Department of Labor to help continuing recovery efforts. Twenty-nine Missouri counties will receive a total of $16.5 million to create 2,200 temporary jobs to help with cleanup and rebuilding efforts as a result of flooding last April through June. These funds are a National Emergency Grant, which comes from the secretary of labor's discretionary fund...

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is seeking to quash a class-action lawsuit brought by more than 140 Southeast Missouri farmers who are seeking millions in damages caused by last May's intentional breaching of the levee protecting the Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway...

TIPTONVILLE, Tenn. -- The Mississippi River Commission was urged to fully restore the Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway as quickly as possible, with several members of the public -- as well as U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson -- also asking for renewed efforts to close a 1,500-foot gap in the levee to provide additional protection from future flooding...

With funding firmly in place, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is targeting mid-June to continue its efforts to restore the Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway levee to what it was before three holes that totaled almost four miles long were blasted in it last May...

Southern Illinois will receive a $2,285,489 supplemental National Emergency Grant to fund continuing recovery efforts following storms and flooding that affected the region in April and May last year. The funds, from the U.S. Department of Labor, are being awarded to the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to create additional temporary jobs for cleanup work and to help workers find permanent employment after their temporary jobs end. ...

For the first time in four years, no region of the country is facing a high risk of major spring flooding, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "We're not forecasting a repeat of recent historic and prolonged flooding in the central and northern U.S., and that is a relief," said Laura Furgione, deputy director of NOAA's National Weather Service, in a news release Thursday...

It's crunch time. With bright green wheat sprouts already blanketing much of the Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway, excavators sit on the banks of silted-in ditches. One scoop at a time they're digging out what the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' breach of the Birds Point levee left behind in May...

WAPPAPELLO, Mo. -- Public meetings have been scheduled at Wappapello Lake to discuss flood repair, flood preparedness, water control procedures and dam safety. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will meet with the public at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Bill Emerson Memorial Visitor Center to provide information and answer questions on water control procedures and Corps-funded recovery efforts following flood damage caused by extreme high water in spring 2011...

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' intentional breaching of a levee in Southeast Missouri last year was front and center on Capitol Hill on Thursday, as U.S. Sen Claire McCaskill grilled the nominee looking to become the corps' next commander...

NEW MADRID, Mo. - The Missouri Levee and Drainage District Association is meeting this weekend in Columbia to talk about recovering from last year's heavy flooding. The association says speakers at Saturday's event will include Gov. Jay Nixon, Sens. Roy Blunt and Claire McCaskill and U.S. Reps. Blaine Luetkemeyer and Vicky Hartzler, who will talk about legislative efforts to provide funding for repairs...

"You can drown downtown, when the water is high It's been happening here, since I was a child There ain't nothing you can do to stop it Just hope for the best, and mop up the rest." -- "Get Down, River," by the Bottle Rockets...

NEW ORLEANS -- Damage from last year's record spring floods could leave many people along the Mississippi River in even more danger this year, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Thursday. It says it's assessing the damage to levees, structures and navigation channels, and will begin notifying affected communities in February...

CHARLESTON, Mo. -- Mississippi County Commissioners are looking into temporarily closing a road to keep motorists from getting stuck. Commissioners met Wednesday for their regular weekly meeting due to a scheduling conflict. During the meeting, Presiding Commissioner Carlin Bennett said commissioners need to take some action on County Road 520...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - The nation's top agriculture official is expected to announce Wednesday more than $300 million in emergency assistance to 33 states and Puerto Rico to help them recover from an unusually intense year for natural disasters across the U.S...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Although a new year has begun, flood survivors continue to cope with grief and losses they suffered last year. "The water is gone, but the recovery takes time," said Phyllis Rowe, team leader for Show-Me Recovery, a crisis counseling program funded by a grant through the Federal Emergency Management System and the Department of Mental Health...

TAMMS, Ill. -- The volunteer operators of Happy Helpers Pantry plan to use donations raised for last spring's flood victims to keep working toward a goal established nearly 30 years ago -- to provide as much free food as possible to local people in need...

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is getting $800 million in federal disaster relief funds to make repairs along the flood-ravaged Mississippi River, corps officials announced Thursday. And the corps called fixing the Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway the "number one priority" with those dollars...

HELENA, Mont. (AP) -- An expert panel says the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was not to blame for record Missouri River flooding this year, but that changes could help avoid a disastrous repeat. A report to be released Tuesday by the corps says that current manuals and procedures could be improved and updated to recognize the more recent weather extremes following "unprecedented levels of runoff that could not be predicted in advance."...

CHARLESTON, Mo. -- For more than seven months, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has worked to undo some of the damage it caused in May when three holes were blasted in the Birds Point-New Madrid levee. With work coming to a halt this week until warmer weather returns next year, corps officials Thursday met with farmers and local officials to discuss what looks to be a winter of uncertainty...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Midwestern farmers who saw their land swamped by summer flooding may be socked again with steep increases in their crop insurance premiums, the expensive result of the failure to fix broken levees before the winter snow and next spring's rains.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Missouri is getting more than $5 million from the federal government to help in the long-term recovery for people hit by tornadoes and flooding. The grant announced Wednesday from the Federal Emergency Management Agency will be available to help people hit by tornadoes in the Joplin and St. Louis areas, as well as flooding along the Mississippi River and in southern Missouri...

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has ordered work to rebuild the Birds Point levee to stop. Due to National Weather Service forecasts of unseasonably high river levels and more to come, Maj. Gen. John Peabody, commander of the corps' Mississippi Valley Division, has directed an orderly shutdown of construction in the floodway project area and the installation of a temporary flood barrier at the upper crevasse. ...

Some roads in Southeast Missouri remain closed today due to flooding from recent heavy rains. MoDOT released the following list this afternoon: n Route142 -from Rt. H in Ripley Co. to Rt. EE in Butler Co. n Route N - from CRD 243 to CRD 232 n Route V-from Madison County Line to Rt. F...

Unseasonably high river levels have created worry among farmers and government officials about the possibility of renewed flooding in the Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway. More than 3 inches of rain has pelted the area in two days, prompting the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to issue an advisory

CHARLESTON, Mo. -- Mississippi County will get to submit one more disaster relief project to FEMA. "The commission has received approval" to turn in the after-deadline project, County Clerk Junior DeLay told commissioners during their regular weekly meeting Thursday...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Gov. Jay Nixon says fixing levees along the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers should be job No. 1 for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers this winter and coming spring. Speaking at a mid-Missouri farm that had experienced some flooding during the summer's record Missouri River rise, Nixon said it is essential for Missouri's agricultural economy that levees damaged by the summer floods be rebuilt, and in a hurry...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Members of the House of Representatives' Committee on Disaster Recovery want more time to finish a report on the committee's findings. The committee spent about an hour-and-a-half Thursday looking over a draft of a report pulled together after several hearings in various parts of the state during the last six months...

More than six months after the Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway levee was intentionally breached, the threat of rain has again become the enemy of Mississippi County farmers desperate to have crop-saving flood protection. With Monday's storms and a chance of precipitation predicted for seven of the next nine days, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is working round-the-clock to repair the three places it blew with explosives in May...

A change of command for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Mississippi Valley Division is coming next week. According to a corps news release, Maj. Gen. Michael J. Walsh will transfer command of the division to Maj. Gen. John W. Peabody on Thursday. The quarterly newsletter of the corps said Walsh will become deputy commanding general for civil and emergency operations in Washington, D.C. ...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Missouri has spent about $15 million so far this year responding to natural disasters such as the deadly Joplin tornado and flooding along the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. State budget director Linda Luebbering says the tally primarily reflects costs incurred by the Missouri National Guard and the State Emergency Management Agency. Some of those expenses may be reimbursed later by the federal government...

CHARLESTON, Mo. -- Mississippi County may get assistance on disaster recovery costs not covered by FEMA from another federal program. During their regular meeting Thursday, county commissioners approved applying for a special Community Development Block Grant which if awarded would pay the 25 percent not covered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency...

CAIRO, Ill. -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has allocated $6.6 million to address seepage issues in the Cairo levee that was almost lost during this spring's flooding.

DORENA, Mo. -- If the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers could order up 80 straight days of weather like Friday's -- 65 degrees and sunny -- then the Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway would be rebuilt to 55 feet by the middle of February. But corps officials said Friday at a news conference they know not many days like that remain, leaving Mississippi County residents with months of uncertainty before the threat of flooding returns next spring...

Officials with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Thursday the only thing stopping them from raising the Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway levee an additional four feet was $2.7 million.

CHARLESTON, Mo. -- FEMA has left the county. The Federal Emergency Management Agency's project specialist assigned to Mississippi County conducted an exit conference with county officials Thursday following the county commission meeting. "They've completed all the project worksheets," County Clerk Junior DeLay said during the meeting. "They'll be leaving this week."...

As Steve Wright's combine rolls through golden fields of soybeans, he remembers crossing those same fertile fields in a boat just days after the Birds Point levee breach. "People that don't live here don't know what it means. It's not just a piece of ground. It's your heart and soul," said Wright, who manages Glen Hillhouse Farms near Wyatt, Mo...

OLIVE BRANCH, Ill. -- Seven months before the waters stole almost everything, James Dunn thought he had found the home he would live in for the rest of his life. He and his wife Shirley had been moving from place to place over their 45 years of marriage, going where the work was. The hunt for steady jobs in construction took him from eastern Missouri to western Kentucky and a few spots in between...

The Missouri Department of Transportation will allow heavier-than-normal loads of sand and gravel to be transported on selected roadways this week during repair of levees in Southeast Missouri. According to a release from MoDOT, private and for-hire motor carriers may carry up to 10 percent more than their licensed weight. ...

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is scheduled to wrap up interim repairs early next month on one of three spots in the Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway levee that it blasted in May. The other breaches -- made in a controversial move to alleviate massive spring flooding -- are expected to be finished by Nov. 30, corps officials said Wednesday...