MISSISSIPPI HEADED TO NEARLY 40 FEET

Heavy rains that caused flash flooding and two flood-related deaths on Thursday in central Missouri will send the Mississippi River at Cape Girardeau to its 10th flood crest of the year early next week.

The National Weather Service said the Mississippi here is expected to crest Monday at 39.5 feet, 7.5 feet above flood stage. The river was at 36.6 feet on Thursday and is forecast to rise to 37.4 today, 38.4 on Saturday, and 39.3 feet on Sunday.

The Mississippi has crested here nine times since March. The highest was 48.49 feet on Aug. 8, a record. The river here has now been above flood stage for 106 consecutive days.

Forecasters warned Monday's flood crest is based on rain ending at 7 a.m. Thursday. Any substantial rain after that could alter the flood-crest prediction.

At 2 p.m. Thursday, the Missouri Highway and Transportation Department reclosed Highway 51 between McBride and the Chester, Ill., bridge after water became too deep for semi-trucks. The floodwater is from the rising Mississippi River, which is coming through a break that occurred in July in the Bois Brule levee south of McBride. The closure means all traffic must again detour south to Route 146 to cross the river at Cape Girardeau.

When the river reaches 39.5 feet at Cape Girardeau, several streets in Red Star and South Cape Girardeau flood. Streets that are closed when the river reaches 39.5 feet include North Main from the levee north to Second Street; North West End Boulevard off Big Bend Road; East Cape Rock Drive at the water intake pumping station below Cape Rock; and South Sprigg from the 1600 block to LaCruz.

The Broadway floodgate, which was opened about a week ago, will have to be closed again this weekend.

Forecasters said a slow-moving front has stalled over southern Missouri. Waves of low pressure are moving eastward along the front, generating showers and thunderstorms that are expected to continue today and tonight.

Rain amounts in northwest Missouri Tuesday night ranged from 8-11 inches, the weather service said. On Thursday rain totals ranged from 4-6 inches in a band from Jefferson City to east central Missouri.

At Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport, 3.77 inches of rain fell from 2 a.m. to 11 a.m. Thursday.

At Jackson total rain for the same period was 3.47 inches. Other amounts, ending at 7 a.m. Thursday, included 3.25 inches at Ste. Genevieve and 2.38 inches at Festus.

The weather service said water was over Highway 67 at Bonne Terre. In Ste. Genevieve water from flooded creeks entered the basements of a number of homes.

Two women were killed during flash flooding, including one whose home was swept off its foundation near Marthasville, in southern St. Charles County. The other victim died when she fell into the flooded Gravois Creek near Glendale in west St. Louis County.

Elsewhere, roads and bridges were underwater Thursday morning in parts of east central Missouri. Hardest hit was Warren, St. Charles and Franklin counties.

At Sullivan, the Meremac River rose 12.6 feet in 24 hours. Authorities said in St. Charles County, one of the hardest-hit counties in this summer's flooding, flash flooding on Wednesday and early Thursday wiped out roads and bridges that were not touched during the summer flooding.

Cape Girardeau County apparently came through all of the rain without major problems. Martha Vandivort, deputy coordinator for emergency services in Cape Girardeau County, said many of the creeks were out of their banks early Thursday, but no serious flooding was reported. A flash-flood warning was in effect for the entire county until early Thursday afternoon.

"Our biggest concern right now is the predicted flood crest on Monday," said Vandivort. "Thirty-nine-and-a-half feet isn't very far from 42 feet," she said. "If the water goes any higher than 39.5 feet, it could cause some problems in the Dutchtown and Allenville areas."

Despite the heavy overnight rains in Cape Girardeau on Thursday, there was very little flooding reported in the city. Mary Ellen Klein, city stormwater superintendent, said crews kept an eye on Cape LaCroix Creek, which went out of its banks briefly Thursday morning in Arena Park. By noon Thursday, the creek was back in its banks. Klein said there was some minor early-morning flooding in the 1700 block of New Madrid and at Third Street and North Main.

Meanwhile, in Southern Illinois the nearly 4-inch rain that fell early Thursday aggravated an already increasingly-serious surface-water flood problem in the East Cape Girardeau-McClure area.

Bill Stout, operations engineer with the Illinois Department of Transportation's Carbondale office, said Route 146 from the bridge to the Route 3 junction remains open, but water continues to edge closer to the roadway in several spots.

"The water is now over the center line on Route 3, just south of the McClure rest area, but the highway is open and safe to use," said Stout. "Route 3 remains closed from the Route 146 junction south to the levee at Gale."

Stout said the department is considering bringing in two more 30-inch pumps to pump surface water over the levee near Gale. This would be in addition to the two 30-inch pumps already in operation there and a 42-inch pump that is scheduled to arrive this weekend.

Stout said there are no plans to raise Route 146. Instead, IDOT will attempt to keep it and Route 3 open by pumping surface water over the levee. But he didn't rule out the possibility the highway might be raised if necessary to keep the last link from Missouri to Illinois open between St. Louis and Cairo, Ill.