MISSISSIPPI ON THE RAMPAGE; RIVER FORECAST TO RISE 12 FEET OVER 72 HOURS

In his 37 years of gauging river stages, Andy Juden hasn't seen the Mississippi River rise as quickly as it will this week.

Forecasters warned Monday that the river will rise at least 12 feet in the next 72 hours.

Much like the sudden rains on Sunday caused widespread flash flooding, the Mississippi is expected to flood areas in Southeast Missouri just as quickly.

And it comes with little warning.

"It's the fastest rise in my memory," said Juden, who is president of the Main Street Levee District in Cape Girardeau.

The river reached 29.6 feet on the Cape Girardeau gauge Monday and should crest at 42 feet on the gauge by Friday, the National Weather Service predicted.

Crews closed both the Themis and Broadway street floodgates Monday afternoon in anticipation of the swelling river. It was the first time both gates were shut on the same day, Juden said.

"Frankly, I've never seen it go up so fast," he said. It wasn't necessary to close the Broadway gate until today but crews were already preparing for other gate closings, he said.

The Mississippi today should reach 36 feet at the Themis Street gate, where the Cape Girardeau gauge is situated, and climb to 39 feet Wednesday, said Juden. The Broadway gate must be closed when it reaches 39 feet on the gauge.

Flood stage in Cape Girardeau is 32 feet.

In preparation for the flood, City Manager Michael G. Miller called a meeting of city department heads Monday afternoon. The group activated the city's emergency flood plan.

This will be Miller's first flood, but other city employees are accustomed to the increasing frequency of Mississippi flooding.

"The only flooding I've had to deal with is in my basement, so I'll be getting an education," Miller said.

"But because of the two last floods, everyone really knows what they are doing, said Miller. "I'm very impressed with the working relationship between various departments."

The flood in 1993 was a true test for city employees. The river crested at 48.49 feet on the gauge in Cape Girardeau Aug. 8. They were better prepared in 1995, when the crest hit 46.7 feet on May 24.

Policemen and firefighters will be contacting property owners in flood-prone areas today to warn them about the river projections and to make sand available for sandbagging efforts.

It is too early to know how the water will affect residents, said Sgt. Carl Kinnison, public information officer for the Cape Girardeau Police Department.

"This is quick," he said. Usually there are two or three weeks of preparations before the river reaches flood stage, he said.

David Hitt, the new Cape Girardeau County emergency preparedness coordinator, said there isn't much his department can do for now. He and other county workers spent part of the day warning people who may be affected.

He said county engineer Scott Bechtold predicted Highway 74 wouldn't flood, but that depends on how much more water enters the nearby Diversion Channel.

Some flood-prone areas have emptied of people since the 1993 and 1995 floods, Hitt said.

The rising waters haven't worried Commerce residents; most of them will remain in the Scott County village.

The total rise in water depends on how much rain the area receives in the next few days. Weather forecasts predict a chance of rain all week.

Almost 2 inches of rain fell Sunday at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport, according to gauges at the Missouri Weather Cooperative.

Ten years ago some Town Plaza business owners were not quite so lucky. A 6-inch rain flooded much of the city in 1986. Two people died and the flash flood caused about $56 million in damage to houses and businesses.

Sunday's heavy rains didn't cause many people to worry about flash flooding inside the city because much of the water quickly drained through the Cape La Croix Creek-Walker Branch basins. Although not yet completed, a $48 million flood-control project on the city's west end prevented major flooding.

"All indications are that it has solved the problem," said Dean Surface, a construction inspector for the Army Corps of Engineers. "We've had several heavy rains since it began five years ago, and once we started with Cape La Croix and Walker, it aggressively got better."

The project should be complete by late 1997. Phase three -- clearing a wider area upstream of the Walker Creek Branch near Kingshighway and Broadway -- should be complete by late summer, officials say.

The last portion of the project is the construction of a detention reservoir north of the city. But that project is still in the design phase, engineers say.