Mississippi River below 'target level' depth at Cape Girardeau

At a depth of 9.37 feet as of Wednesday night, the Mississippi River at Cape Girardeau is below the Army Corps of Engineers's "target level."

According to the website of Corps — which owns, operates and maintains the gauge located off of Aquamsi Street in Cape Girardeau — "target levels are between 11.5 and 12.2 feet for safe navigation of the barge and the Corps try to keep the river above this level."

The record high for the river is 48 feet, which occurred in August 1993, and the record low was measured at 0.60 feet in January 1909. Flood stage at Cape Girardeau is 32 feet, with downtown flood gates being closed when the river reaches 35.5 feet.

In the last seven days, there has been an accumulation of 0.10 inches of precipitation in Cape Girardeau, which has caused the river to be at current levels. The river rose to 9.28 feet Wednesday, and is forecast to fall to 6.9 feet Feb. 3, according to the National Weather Service.