MISSISSIPPI HEADED FOR 47 FEET HERE; CAUTION KEY AT CITY WATER PLANT

Cape Girardeau Wednesday will witness its second-highest Mississippi River crest on record.

The National Weather Service Monday revised the crest upward, calling for the Mississippi to reach 47 feet on the Cape Girardeau gauge. The record is 48.49 feet Aug. 8, 1993.

City officials are keeping a close eye on Cape Girardeau's water treatment plant. The bulk of Cape Girardeau's water supply comes from the Mississippi.

Tom Taggart, city water utility manager, said crews have raised the main intake motor to tolerate a crest of 48.5 feet. He said even if the river reaches that stage, or a power outage occurs, three gasoline-powered emergency pumps purchased after 1993's record flood will be used.

"We got ready and set them up last week," Taggart said. "We had a trial run of the emergency pumps Sunday and everything went fine."

He said in the highly unlikely event that the main pump and the emergency pumps should fail, the city has stored more than 7 million gallons of water. That would last about a day and a half -- time enough to find other sources for pumping or distributing water, he said.

Taggart said the city has added more chlorine to the water as a precaution. "There are no signs of contamination, and we've increased the sampling to reassure everyone of that," he said. "This was just a precaution.

Taggart said city water shouldn't look or taste any different because of the added chlorine.

Flood help

-The Red Cross is in need of volunteers in the Cape Girardeau area. To find out how you can help, contact the Red Cross at 335-9471.

-To donate post-flood cleaning items or others material to the Salvation Army, call 335-7000.