High water causes more problems, including port operations

Editor's note: The employer of workers at the Southeast Missouri Regional Port has been corrected below.

Floodwaters continued to rise Monday in parts of Southeast Missouri as the Mississippi River neared a 43-foot crest forecast for late this afternoon.

The river level at Cape Girardeau today could be the 10th-highest on record and likely will affect land in and around Cape Girardeau, Scott City, Chaffee and Commerce, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Memphis District, which initiated Phase II flood-fighting activities Monday morning.

Corps' activities during flooding include sending employees to the area for increased daily monitoring of levee conditions. The Corps began Phase I activities Friday as the remnants of Tropical Depression Bill dumped several inches of rain on the area, adding to already rising river levels.

When the river reaches 42 feet on the gauge at Cape Girardeau, downtown floodgates already will have closed, and homes and farmland in the southern part of the county take on backwater flooding from the Diversion Channel. Floodwater reached part of Highway 74 between Interstate 55 and Dutchtown on Monday, but as of late afternoon hadn't yet forced the highway to close.

In Cape Girardeau, police over the weekend received reports of high water on some roadways and placed traffic barricades near Isle Casino Cape Girardeau, spokesman Sgt. Adam Glueck said.

Police on Monday morning also received a report of a vehicle stranded in high water on Highway 177. The woman driving the vehicle admitted to going around barricades, thinking her car could make it through the high water that came up to the bottom of her door, Glueck said.

He said motorists should pay attention to any weather-related alerts such as flash-flood warnings, stay off the road if possible when those warnings exist, and do not attempt to go around barricades or standing water on roadways in an effort to avoid potential fines or a stalling engine.

In Perry County, several state routes remained closed Monday, according to the Missouri Department of Transportation.

Some rail traffic also was rerouted because of closed floodgates in Cape Girardeau and sections of flooded railroads in Perry County.

At the Southeast Missouri Regional Port, several businesses loading goods onto barges had to improvise or scale back operations because of high water, said executive director Dan Overbey.

One company was expecting to miss a few days of shipping because of the river level. Another, Midwest Grain & Barge, made adjustments to equipment to allow a barge under a loading spout.

Overbey said the water at the port tends to rise faster than it did because of flood-control developments along the river. But recent projects that created higher elevations for railroad tracks and the advancement of loading equipment that can vary its height with the water level have helped the port deal with flooding.

"Still, this part of the river, between St. Louis and Memphis, is actually one of the wilder sections of the river," Overbey said, "because north there are locks and dams, and south, the river is wider."

Barge traffic continued on the river Monday, though the Corps advised efforts should be made by vessels to minimize risk to towboats and fleets with heavy drift from high water levels.

eragan@semissourian.com

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