MISSISSIPPI RIVER FINALLY DROPS BELOW FLOD STAGE

The Mississippi River dropped to 32 feet at Cape Girardeau Sunday, ending the city's second-highest flood of the century.

It began when waters rose above the 32-foot flood stage at Cape on Wednesday, May 3. The river crested at 46.7 feet on Wednesday, May 24, then receded several inches each day.

The National Weather Service in Paducah predicted the river will continue to drop, sitting at 31.5 feet today, 31.2 Tuesday and 31 Wednesday. While the numbers don't leave room for very much additional rain, they reflect a steady drop to normal summer levels in the teens and twenties.

The flood lasted 54 days. Now clean-up work continues, with victims using kits from the Red Cross and other agencies to clean mud and mildew out of their homes.

City crews have been busy cleaning debris off flooded streets.

The record flood of 1993 topped this year's flood in Cape Girardeau, cresting at 48.49 feet on Aug. 8. It also lasted much longer, beginning when the Mississippi hit 32.8 feet June 10 and ending when it dropped back to 30.9 feet Oct. 13.

People called the 1993 flood a "100-year flood" but learned how soon afterward another historic flood can hit.

State Emergency Management Agency Director Jerry Uhlmann told Cape Girardeau County commissioners last week that there is no way to predict a trend.

"It seems that it floods more often now, but maybe because there are more structures along the flood plain," he said. "If we could go back 300 years and look at how to handle the flood plain, we would do things differently."

Experts with the U.S. Coast Guard said the most recent flood occurred because heavy rains to the north came down both the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, backing up water at the two rivers' confluence near Cairo, Ill.

In 1993, the Ohio wasn't above flood stage, which provided some relief for Mississippi floodwaters.