Mississippi River cresting in many parts of Missouri, Illinois

LOUISIANA, Mo. -- As the faithful gathered for church services Sunday in towns hit hard by flooding along the Mississippi River, many found comfort in the word that the swollen waterway had started to reach its high point.

Dozens of parishioners filled the dry Centenary United Methodist Church in Louisiana, a few blocks from floodwaters that still cover about 15 percent of the town's neighborhoods. They prayed for aid and gave thanks for the volunteers, National Guard soldiers and prison inmates who helped the community of nearly 4,000 in recent days.

"And they all worked," Pastor Jeanne Webdell said of the volunteers. "They worked for a cause bigger than themselves, worked to help people that most didn't even know. And through them we could see God's love in action."

It appeared Sunday the flooding in Louisiana and elsewhere in Missouri and Illinois could soon give way to recovery. The National Weather Service said the Mississippi was cresting Sunday at Canton, Mo., not far from the Iowa state line, through the lock and dam near Saverton, about 100 miles north of St. Louis. Crests were forecast for today in Louisiana and Clarksville.

In Cape Girardeau, the river is forecast to crest today at 41.5 feet, shy of the 49.7 foot record set Aug. 8, 1993. According to the Army Corps of Engineers' Web site, the river is expected to stay at 41.4 feet Tuesday and Wednesday.

But in hard-hit Winfield and Grafton, Ill., the river was still rising. The latest forecasts pushed back the crest in those communities to Wednesday.

"It's quieter compared to earlier this week," said Louisiana emergency management director Mike Lesley. "Last night, I actually got some sleep."

"We're just trying to deal with it as it comes to us," said Jamie Scott, a dispatcher with the Jersey County, Ill., Sheriff's Office. "The crest [forecast] has dropped almost a foot, so that's a good thing. ... All of our levees are holding."

In flooded Winfield, officials inspected the town's levees by air Sunday after one overtopped earlier in the day. Several miles down the river in Grafton, the floodwaters continued to spread deeper into the 650-resident village that's heavily dependent on tourism. The town's main road -- the Great River Road -- was impassible in some stretches, limiting access to businesses.

"Sunday is a big [business] day for Grafton, but just about every business is shut down," said Joe DeSherlia, owner of the Grafton Harbor. "Most of our businesses make their money in the summer, and that tides us over in the winter when there are no tourists.

"It could be a long, cold winter for us."

Southeast Missourian staff writer Aaron Dohogne contributed to this report.