RIVER HERE SHOULD FALL BELOW FLOOD STAGE SOON

If Mother Nature and Old Man River cooperate, the Mississippi at Cape Girardeau will drop below flood stage here later this week for the first time since early June.

The National Weather Service said the Mississippi River at Cape Girardeau should drop below the 32-foot flood stage late Wednesday night or early Thursday morning.

The river here was at 34.4 feet Monday. It was forecast to drop to 33.1 feet today, 32.2 feet on Wednesday, and fall one-half foot below flood stage on Thursday, to 31.5 feet.

At Chester, Ill., the river has dropped below flood stage. Monday's stage was 29 feet. It was forecast to drop to 28.3 feet today, 27.8 feet on Wednesday, and 27.2 feet on Thursday.

The Mississippi River at Chester has now fallen enough for water inside the breached Brois Bule levee to begin draining into the river. On Monday, the Missouri Highway and Transportation Department reopened Route 51 between McBride and the Chester bridge.

At Cairo the Ohio River was at 35.1 feet on Monday. It was forecast to drop to 33.5 feet today, 32.3 Wednesday and 31.4 feet on Thursday.

Unless significant additional rain occurs after today, the river will continue to fall steadily for the next several days between St. Louis and Cape Girardeau.

As the river continues to recede, workers for the Main Street Levee District in Cape Girardeau reopened the Themis Street floodgate at 3 p.m. Monday, when the river dropped to 34 feet. The Broadway floodgate was reopened on Saturday after the river fell below 40 feet.

The floodgates were closed in mid-September after the river crested for the ninth and 10th times this year. The ninth crest occurred Sept. 20 at 36.6 feet and the 10th Oct. 3 at 42.6 feet.

The Corps of Engineers said the all-time record flood crest at Cape Girardeau occurred this year on Aug. 8, when the river crested at 48.49 feet.

Southeast Missourian records show the river has been above flood stage at Cape Girardeau for more than 120 days. C.A. "Andy" Juden, president of the Main Street Levee District, said as of Monday the Merriwether Street pumping station has been in operation for 205 days this year. Juden said that in 1973 the pump station was in operation for a total of 210 days.