Levee district starts pumps in downtown Cape

The Main Street Levee District ran the storm pumps briefly at the Merriwether Street pumping station downtown to prepare for rising water along the Mississippi River.

Shortly after 1 p.m. today, workers for the levee district closed the gate leading from the seven-foot storm drain under Merriwether Street, then pumped the remaining water out into the river. The pump station, with three 200-horsepower pumps and two 75-horsepower pumps, was last used in January 2006.

The National Weather Service continues to predict that the Mississippi will rise to 37.5 feet on the Cape Girardeau gauge, 5.5 feet above flood stage, by Wednesday. The river is expected to climb above flood stage sometime late today or in the early hours of Friday. The river level stood at 31.6 feet shortly before 2 p.m. Flood stage is 32 feet.

The pump station on at Merriwether and Water Streets is the storm water outlet for an area from Morgan Oak Street on the south and Bellevue Street on the north going west to Pacific Street, said Andy Juden, president of the levee district board of directors.

"We can pump out 13 inches of rain in an hour," Juden said.

While the current river levels aren't high enough to cause problems, the pump house must be ready. "Otherwise, we could get so much water if we do get a heavy rain it won't go out as fast," he said.

Check back at www.semissourian.com for updates or read Friday's Southeast Missourian.