Mississippi continues slow rise

While rivers to the north crested Saturday, the Mississippi River has yet to reach the predicted crest level of between 41.5 and 42 feet in Cape Girardeau.

The latest available reading at 4 p.m. Sunday measured the river at 40.99 feet at the river gauge at the end of Merriwether Street.

"The rising has slowed but it's continuing to just creep up," said Alex Dodd, a meteorologist in the Paducah office of the National Weather Service. "I suspect that we're looking at a crest between [Sunday night] and [today] at 41.5, maybe 42 feet."

The Mississippi River crested in St. Louis Saturday at 30.8 feet, 8 inches above flood stage. If the river reaches the predicted high of 41.5 in Cape Girardeau, it will be 9.5 feet above flood stage.

Capt. Brad Dillow with the Cape Girardeau Fire Department said he went to the Red Star District on Sunday morning and saw no real change in the water level there.

"There is one house on Second Street that if it came up a few more feet it would be in their basement," Dillow said.

The man who lives there told Dillow that once the water reaches a manhole in the street it would be in his basement, but "it was nowhere near that manhole," Dillow said.

Last week's rain fall pushed Cape Girardeau past its previous high March rainfall total of 11.89 inches in 1977. Preliminary data from the National Weather Service listed the amount of rainfall through March 22 at 14.77 inches.

With the weather service predicting more rain for later in the week, March is on the road to matching or surpassing the all-time rainfall record of 16.89 inches set in May of 1973.

Sligh precipitation was predicted for Sunday night with a heavier front moving in Thursday with more rain, though nothing like last week's storm.

"It certainly within the realm of possibilities to see a few inches and break that record," Dodd said. "At this point could it be heavy? Sure, but nothing like what we just experienced."

Dodd said the rains won't raise the river level so much as delay the lowering. The storms will be "something to watch, but no 12-inch rainfall amount," he said.

With the floodwaters beginning to recede and people returning to their homes, the Red Cross has announced it will open Service Delivery Sites in Piedmont, Mo., Poplar Bluff, Mo., and Advance, Mo. Each site will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. beginning today and lasting "as long as there is a need," according to a Sunday news release.

People can get cleaning supplies and clean drinking water at the sites. For more information, call the Red Cross at 1-800-733-2767.

charris@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 246

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