2011 Flood: A year later, May 1

On this day, May 1

Cape river level: 45.9 feet

Cape flood stage: 32 feet

Cairo river level: 59.73 feet

Cairo flood stage: 40 feet

Rainfall: 2.79 inches

Fifteen roads in Cape Girardeau were closed. Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster asked the U.S. Supreme Court to block federal officials from breaching the Birds Point levee. The court refused to halt the plans.

The president of the Mississippi River Commission directed the Corps of Engineers to move barges of explosives across the river to Missouri and load pipes with blasting agents.

MoDOT worked to keep Interstate 55 open south of Sikeston.

The story of the flooding here was pushed to the side in the national discussion when President Barack Obama announced the killing of Osama bin Laden.