Castor River levees breach in Stoddard County

STODDARD COUNTY, Mo. -- The rain has stopped and the water is beginning to recede, but at least one county river is still having problems.

The Castor River, that runs from as far north as Ste. Genevieve County, has four breaches along its bank at Highway Y near the Nestle Purina plant near Aquila.

Stoddard County Sheriff Carl Hefner reports that three of the breaches were approximately 12 feet in length and the fourth approximately 25 feet across.

When the levee began to break Wednesday afternoon tall waves could be seen across the field near where the river is located.

"It seems to have slowed down a lot today," Hefner said Thursday morning. "You can't see any more white caps and from the highway you can't see the small one from the highway with the naked eye."

Members of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are visiting Stoddard County today to assess the damage at Castor River and determine the next course of action.

Thousands of sandbags were stacked around Circle City to ward off water Wednesday, too, but no reports of damaged homes were called in to the Stoddard County Sheriff's Department.