Flooding may cause more Mississippi River levees to overflow

WASHINGTON (AP) _ As many as 30 more levees may overflow along the Mississippi River from Burlington, Iowa, down to St. Louis, the government said Wednesday.

Twenty levees already have been topped by flood waters this week, the Army Corps of Engineers said. Twenty to 30 other levees could overflow if sandbagging efforts fail to raise the height of the structures.

The levees in danger protect rural, industrial and agricultural areas, not heavily populated towns. The levees protecting large towns are not as at risk of overflowing, officials said.

Record-breaking storms and flooding across six states this month are still forcing thousands of people to evacuate. Since June 6, there have been 24 deaths and 148 injuries because of the storms and flooding, according to federal briefing documents obtained by The Associated Press.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency said two levees in Illinois have broken and a dam in Morgan County, Ind., has been significantly damaged.

In the flooded regions, some food processing plants were expected to be shut down, and officials expected maritime transportation to be closed for at least a week.

The federal government has provided more than 3 million quarts of water, 150 generators, more than 213,000 meals, 13 million sandbags and 4,000 rolls of plastic sheeting, according to FEMA and Army Corps tallies.

More than 28,000 people have registered for FEMA disaster assistance. FEMA Director R. David Paulison said only 9 percent of them have flood insurance. Those without flood insurance are limited in what federal assistance they can receive.

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Federal Emergency Management Agency: http://www.fema.gov