GUARD'S 1140TH PUT ON ALERT FOR FLOOD

The Missouri National Guard's 1140th Engineer Battalion in Cape Girardeau has been placed on alert and its Company D at Farmington activated to assist flood-fighting along the Mississippi River.

In addition, U.S. Rep. Bill Emerson is trying to corral assistance from President Clinton, Secretary of Agriculture Mike Espy and Gov. Mel Carnahan to help victims of the Midwest's current flooding.

Company D officials were meeting with Ste. Genevieve city officials late Wednesday to discuss assisting that city in its fight against the flood, said Sgt. 1st Class Richard Lammert of the Guard's personnel staff in Cape Girardeau.

"National Guard units here, at Sikeston, Jackson, Portageville, Charleston, Fredericktown and Perryville have been placed on flood alert," said Lammert.

A weekend county fair at Ste. Genevieve, a historic town about 60 miles north of Cape Girardeau, was canceled because of the rising river. Mayor William Anderson called for more volunteers to help with sandbagging.

"It is very definitely a crisis," said Anderson. "We've been meeting daily to review the river stages, forecasts and crest dates. We can furnish the materials; all we need is the human element involved in the sandbagging."

In Washington, Emerson contacted federal and Missouri officials to stress the importance of fully utilizing already allocated disaster relief funds.

For instance, according to Emerson, the Clinton administration has only committed $200 million of the available $500 million in federal disaster relief accounts.

In his letter to the president, Emerson wrote: "Clearly the need for further federal emergency monies and increased disaster relief funds is both desperate and immediate. Full disaster relief funding will minimize losses for many agricultural producers so that economic damage to our rural towns and communities is not overwhelming."

This year's flood along the Mississippi is now rivaling the flood of 1973 in duration and magnitude, say meteorologists.

The National Weather Service's updated forecast Wednesday warned that the Mississippi will exceed record levels of the flood of 1973 in many areas.

The weather service said the river would reach record crests at many points, including St. Louis, where it is expected to crest at 43.5 feet on Tuesday.

The latest crest forecast at Cape Girardeau could be the highest in 20 years and the second highest in more than 100 years.

For the seventh time during the past two weeks, the weather service has revised the flood crest at Cape Girardeau.

The forecast issued Wednesday calls for the river at Cape Girardeau to crest at 45 feet, 15 feet above flood stage, on Wednesday. The river stage at Cape Girardeau today is expected to be 40.5 feet, up a foot from the 39.5 reading of Wednesday.

The Mississippi is expected to rise about a foot a day, with a 41.5-foot reading Friday and 42.6 Saturday.

A 45-foot crest would be the highest flood crest at Cape Girardeau since 1973, and the second highest here since records have been available, starting in 1844.

The all-time record flood crest at Cape Girardeau occurred on May 1, 1973, when the Mississippi reached 45.6 feet on the Cape Girardeau gauge.

More rains are in the forecast, which could prolong the expected crest.

With today's stage at more than 40 feet, a number of streets in the northern area of the city have been closed. They include North Main and Mason, Lacruz, East Cape Rock below the rock, Beech and Pine, and North Water from First to Third.

The Cape Girardeau Police Department reported that water was over the street in the 1500 block of South Sprigg and the 1100 block of North Water.

"These are the areas affected by the rising waters now," said a spokesman for the police department. "But they can change quickly."

The Salvation Army in Cape Girardeau has offered its services to help people in flooded areas, including sandbagging operations.

Bob King is chairman of the disaster committee. Members of the Salvation Army started a sandbagging project on Highway 177 near the north city limits about noon Wednesday.