MISSISSIPPI COUNTY DEALS WITH FLOODING

Mississippi County officials say they are having record flooding because the Mississippi and Ohio rivers are above flood stage.

"We didn't have this in '93 because the Ohio wasn't backing water up like it is this year," Sheriff Larry Turley said. "We're not new to flooding though; this happened in '73."

Many county roads and some highways are closed because of the flooding.

A spokesman for the sheriff's department said Highway 77 was underwater in spots and highways FF and YY were closed. Also closed were Mississippi County Roads 102, 508, 515 and 518.

"We have about 20 reserve deputies working around the clock since last week," the spokesman said. "Most of the them have been manning the barricades."

The spokesman said 18 households have been evacuated and homes in the Pinhook area in southeast Mississippi County might have to be vacated.

Mississippi County officials said the county was faring well with the rising water and the bridge connecting Mississippi and Alexander counties was safe for travel. But officials cautioned the bridge linking Cairo, Ill., and Wickliff, Ky., was closed because of high water.

A spokesman for the National Weather Service in Slidell, La., said the river was 15 feet over flood stage Tuesday morning and was expected to fall by almost a foot by the weekend. The river stage at Cairo was 55.2 feet Tuesday at 7 a.m.