RISING RIVERS FORCE FLOOD PRECAUTIONS

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- State airplanes were flying to higher ground and some businesses were packing up supplies as the Missouri River inched toward the top of its levee in the Capitol city.

The river was projected to crest Friday at 30 feet -- the same height as part of the levee that protects the Jefferson City airport and numerous flood-plain businesses.

In downtown Cape Girardeau, the Themis Street floodgate closed Thursday in an attempt to hold back the rising Mississippi River, which hit a mark of 33.3 feet. Flood stage in Cape Girardeau is 32 feet. The river is expected to crest in Cape Girardeau at 37 feet Sunday.

"It's very close, it makes you anxious, and it makes you think about what you're going to do," said Susan Green, the emergency management coordinator who on Thursday was urging Jefferson City businesses to take precautions.

Dave Kilburn was heeding the word. The airport's Hertz rental car agent had packed everything from office records to paper towels into boxes ready for loading on a nearby trailer.

The rental cars -- those not driven to Columbia -- were parked safely out of the waters' reach on a nearby highway overpass.

"I am ready," said Kilburn, who at the time was the lone employee in the airport office. "As soon as they say, Dave, it's time,' I'll be gone in 15 minutes."

Facing danger

The Jefferson City area, where the Missouri River's projected crest is 7 feet above flood stage, appeared to face the greatest danger of having its levees topped.

Further downstream at Hermann, the projected crest of 29.5 feet is more than 8 feet above flood level but still 5 feet from overflowing the levee, said Cliff Sanders, a civil engineer at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers office in Glasgow.

"The majority of the systems from Hermann on down should have ... quite a bit of the levee embankment sticking out of the water," Sanders said.

Downstream in St. Charles County, the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers are predicted to crest over the weekend, said Rod Zerr of the St. Charles County Emergency Management Agency.

Around the Alton Dam, levels will crest about nine feet over flood stage. North of there, crests of four to six feet above are expected.

A few roads have been closed and some homeowners, who already left their low-lying homes earlier this spring, may be packing up again for a while, Zerr said.

"We're not anticipating any major problems," he said. "Most of these areas see flooding on a yearly basis."

In Jefferson City, the plane used by Gov. Bob Holden was flown to the Columbia airport Wednesday. Many other state and privately owned planes were leaving the airport Thursday, although the runways remained open for business.

"It's just a precaution," said airport manager Ron Craft. "I'm not going to close the airport until it's absolutely necessary."

Informal evacuations are almost routine.

In 1993, the Missouri River washed out the northern part of Jefferson City, including the airport, U.S. 63 and the entire community of Cedar City, which has not been rebuilt.

Some of the same areas were flooded again in 1995.

The Capitol, located on a bluff on the south side of the river, is untouchable even by flood waters. But some of its downhill parking lots already were flooded Thursday, as the Missouri River backed up into a tributary creek.