AREA BRACES FOR RIVER FORECAST OF 44 FEET

Fresh off the heels of record 1993 flooding, the Mississippi River is headed for a 44-foot crest here on Saturday, 12 feet above the 32-foot flood stage here, the National Weather Service said.

The weather service had earlier forecast a crest of 36 feet for Friday. But torrential rains that fell Monday in central and eastern Missouri and into central Illinois have dumped more water into the already swollen Missouri and Mississippi rivers above St. Louis.

Weather Service hydrologist Jack Burns said the sharp rises are due to heavy rains over that region the past three days. Said Burns, "Over the three-day period -- Sunday through Tuesday -- we've seen rainfall totals range from 5 to 7 inches in some locations."

The weather service said rises on the Missouri River between Monday and Tuesday morning ranged from 5.5 feet at Boonville to 9.3 feet at Jefferson City, 9.2 feet at Hermann, and 8.3 feet at Washington. These rises were in addition to 7-foot rises that occurred Monday at Jefferson City, Hermann and Washington.

At St. Louis the Mississippi River rose 11.4 feet during the 24-hour period ending at 7 a.m. Tuesday.

The river at Cape Girardeau was at 30.9 feet Tuesday morning, a rise of 4.8 feet. It was forecast to go to 35.5 feet today, 39.1 feet on Thursday, 42.3 feet on Friday, and crest Saturday afternoon at 44 feet.

The Ohio River at Cairo, Ill., was at 48.8 feet on Tuesday, over 8 feet above flood stage. The Ohio is still expected to crest Sunday at Cairo at 54 feet.

If the 44-foot crest materializes at Cape Girardeau, it will force the closure of a number of county roads and highways in Cape Girardeau County and city streets in Cape Girardeau.

The revised flood crest will also endanger some of the houses in Red Star that were damaged in last year's flood. Some of those homes have since been repaired.

Other than closing some county roads that will be covered by water, Cape Girardeau County Presiding Commissioner Gene Huckstep said he's going to "wait and see" what happens during the next two days.

"Even at 44 feet, the only real problems are the closed county roads," said Huckstep, "and there's a possibility the weather service may wind up lowering the flood crest, so we're going to wait until Wednesday or Thursday to see which way they go."

Huckstep said the river at Cape Girardeau would have to rise to around 45 to 46 feet to create any serious problems at Dutchtown or Allenville.

The Main Street Levee District closed the Themis Street floodgate at 3 p.m. Tuesday. Levee district President C.A. "Andy" Juden said the Broadway floodgate will probably be shut this afternoon at the same time.

The flood crest will also interrupt rail service on the Burlington Northern between St. Louis and Cape Girardeau. The railroad's north floodgate next to Sloan's Creek will be closed before the river reaches 38.5 feet.

Meanwhile, the Corps of Engineers in Cape Girardeau and St. Louis implemented phase one of its flood fight on Tuesday afternoon.

Dean Surface, office engineer with the Corps' Cape Girardeau resident office, said the staff has gone on a 12-hour work schedule.

He said: "Our flood emergency operations center in St. Louis was opened Tuesday afternoon. At 6 a.m. Tuesday we began a 12-hour patrol of the levees in our district. When the river reaches 42 feet, we'll go on a 24-hour work schedule."

Surface said the Cape Girardeau office has a supply of sandbags for those who need them. They should call the Corps office at 335-3386.

Questions have been raised about whether the agricultural levees from East Cape Girardeau to the Big Muddy River can withstand another round of flooding after having withstood last year's flood.

Surface said: "We just don't know. These levees have never been tested like this before. There is no doubt they have been weakened by the prolonged high water that was against them. But we are assuming they will hold. We're going to have our people on the levees every day to inspect them.

Many levee breaks only recently have been repaired and the earth has not had a chance to compact. Those levees that did hold back the 1993 flood remain saturated, partially a result of minor floods in January and March, when the river here reached 34 feet.

But Surface said: "The good thing is that once the crest passes this weekend the river should fall rapidly because there is no additional high water coming down behind the crest."

At 38 feet, Water Street from First to Third Streets is closed.

At 39.5 feet, North Main Street is closed from Sloan's Creek bridge to Second Street; North End Boulevard is closed just west of Big Bend Road; and Cape Rock Drive at the river pumping station is closed.

At 40.4 feet, County Road 651 at Egypt Mills and County Road 525 at Neelys Landing will be closed.

At 41.1 feet, water is over Cape Rock Drive at Twin Trees Park. City streets closed at this stage are: 1600 to 2100 blocks of South Sprigg; all streets in Smelterville except half of Poplar and Cooper streets; 1000 block of North Main Street; Water Street, from First to Third streets; 1400 block of Rand; and the 200 block of North West End Boulevard.

County roads that are closed at 41.1 feet include: County Road 223 at Allenville, 651 at Egypt Mills, 525 at Neelys Landing, and Highway 25 at Dutchtown.

At 41.7 feet, Highway 177 west of North Cape Rock Drive is closed, with 8 inches of water over the roadway.

At 41.7 feet, city streets closed include the 2200 block of South Sprigg and the 1100 block of North Main. County Road 241 north of 237 east of Allenville is closed.

At 42 feet, the following are closed: Highway 74 east of I-55 at Cape Girardeau; Third Street at Main, Second Street at North Spanish, 1400 block of Rand.

At 43 feet the North Main Street floodgate is closed.

At 43.9 feet, Aquamsi Street is closed.