RAINS KEEP FLOOD ACTIVITIES IN SPOTLIGHT

Thunderstorms continued to dump rain throughout the region and Missouri on Saturday, keeping flood watchers and workers on alert.

"We're doing OK," said Brian Miller, Cape Girardeau County emergency preparedness coordinator. "But thunderstorm activity has resulted in additional sandbagging work."

High winds and rain swept through the area from Delta northeast to Gordonville, scattering tree limbs and debris on the ground late Saturday afternoon.

The storm also downed power lines in those areas, said Cape Girardeau County Sheriff John Jordan, who was assessing damage.

Miller said there were no reports of serious property damage or injuries from the storm.

But flood watchers were on edge near Dutchtown as the storm apparently damaged the sandbag levee that shields the town from the flooded Diversion Channel.

"We found a small pocket that appeared to washing out," said Pat Jett, Gordonville fire chief. "The levee didn't breach, but we were concerned. We feel we've taken care of the situation."

Although rains fell in the area throughout the night and day, only .24 of an inch was recorded at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport from midnight Friday to 7 p.m. Saturday.

In the middle of their third consecutive year of flooding, Commerce residents Saturday discussed the need for a levee to protect the 205-year-old town from the relentless Mississippi River.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has agreed to study the project's feasibility.

A similar study in the mid-1980s concluded that the cost of building a levee outweighed the benefits.

But Roy Jones, who chairs the town board, said it appears either a federal buyout or a levee offer is the best hope the town's residents have for escaping the recurrent flooding.

Jones and a handful of Commerce residents met briefly Saturday with Corps officials, who visited the beleaguered town in two Army helicopters.

Col. Ted Fox, commander of the Corps' Memphis District, promised the levee issue would be studied. But he noted that earthen levees can cost anywhere from $500,000 to several million dollars.

Fox was accompanied by state Sen. Peter Kinder, R-Cape Girardeau; Lloyd Smith, chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Bill Emerson, R-Mo.; and Tom Schulte, who runs the Cape Girardeau office of U.S. Sens. Christopher Bond, R-Mo., and John Ashcroft, R-Mo.

Prior to landing at Commerce, the delegation flew over stretches of the flooded Mississippi near New Madrid.

Meanwhile in Cape Girardeau, residents were waiting for the water to recede.

"It's a waiting game now," said Capt. Elmer Trapp of the Salvation Army. "People are waiting until they get back to their homes."

The Salvation Army has made arrangements at area motels for some flood victims. Others are staying at a Red Cross shelter at the Cape Central High School gymnasium.

"Thirty people are registered at the school shelter," said Red Cross spokesman Ron McCubbin. "But some are visiting relatives over the Memorial Day holiday and some have been successful in finding rental property."

A number of Cape County roads and Cape Girardeau city streets remain closed to traffic.

The Mississippi River stage at Cape Girardeau was reported at 45.5 feet Saturday evening, down from the Friday reading of 45.7.

The river has dropped more than a foot since it crested at 46.7 Wednesday, and is expected to drop another foot by Monday, barring more heavy rains.

The National Weather Service is forecasting additional thunderstorm and shower activity. More rain to the north, in Kansas, Missouri and Illinois, could create a second wave of river crests.

No crest predictions have been made for the Illinois and Ohio rivers.

The Ohio at Cairo, Ill., was at 55.6 feet Saturday and rising slowly. The flood stage at Cairo is 40 feet, but the city's levee system will hold the water back to a height of 60 feet.

Highway 51 south to Wickliffe, Ky., is under 20 inches of water from the rising Ohio River and was closed at 11 p.m. Friday.

The shortest route from Cairo to Wickliffe, only seven miles away, is now about 70 to 75 miles via Metropolis, Ill., into Paducah, Ky., and back to Wickliffe.