NEW CREST FORECAST OFFERS RELIEF; RIVER FRIDAY SHOULD TOP OUT AT 37.5

A new Mississippi River crest forecast for Friday at Cape Girardeau put city officials at ease Wednesday.

The river had been expected to crest Thursday at 41.5 feet, 9.5 feet above flood stage. But the National Weather Service in St. Louis said Wednesday that the river should crest at Cape Girardeau Friday at 37.5 feet, 4 feet below the prediction of Tuesday.

Officials learned of the revised forecast during a department head meeting at City Hall.

Mary Lamm, a service hydrologist with the National Weather Service in Paducah, Ky., said water flow into the Mississippi from the Big Muddy River in Southern Illinois was less than expected, leading to the lowered crest forecast.

She said the Big Muddy should crest today in Murphysboro, Ill. "We'll have to wait and see how much water could come out of that," Lamm said.

After talking to the Big Muddy reporting station, the forecast could change again today. But the forecasted crest isn't likely to change drastically, she said.

Meanwhile, Cape Girardeau officials expressed cautious optimism about the latest forecast.

"This hasn't been a wasted effort," said water system manager Tom Taggart. "The river stays at a higher level for some time after this, and we might be back at this in another week.

"We can't delay our preparations until the weather service makes a decision."

Police Chief Howard "Butch" Boyd Jr. agreed: "I'm afraid we're going to revisit this again soon. This is good news, but it's probably going to be our wakeup call."

No other meetings were scheduled to discuss the flood situation.