Weather service lowers river crest prediction at Cape; Themis gate closed at 1 p.m.

National Weather Service forecasters lowered their flood prediction for the Mississippi River at Cape Girardeau this morning, cutting 2.5 feet off the anticipated crest for Wednesday morning.

The forecast, issued at 10:30 a.m., predicts that the river will rise to 41.5 feet, about the same level seen after the record-setting rainfall of March 18-19. At that level, floodgates are closed at Themis Street, Broadway, the Burlington-Northern Santa Fe railroad at Red Star and North Main Street.

At 10 a.m. the river level was 34.4 feet, a rise of almost 2 feet since Thursday morning.

The Themis Street gate will close at 1 p.m. today, said Andy Juden, president of the Main Street Levee District. It is the third time the gate has been closed in the past month. "Most of the time we get it closed, open it up and that is it," Juden said. "We need a door opener on it this year."

The crest will be the fourth time in a little over a month that the Mississippi River has crested above flood stage at Cape Girardeau. Flooding has become more extensive in that time as well, with stations from Burlington, Iowa to New Orleans near or above flood stage. Major tributaries, including the Missouri River and the Ohio River, are also reporting high water.

The river crested at 48.49 feet in August 1993 and 47 feet in May 1995.

U.S. Sen. Kit Bond will make his second visit to Southeast Missouri to monitor response to the flooding and discuss the federal response, including additional flood protection for damaged areas. He will make a helicopter tour of some areas with Col. Thomas P. Smith, commander of the Memphis District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

At a discussion after the flight, Smith will give a briefing and Bond will listen to comments from local officials, said Tom Schulte, Bond's representative in Southeast Missouri.

A spokesman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency will discuss the effort to help people and communities recover from flooding and prepare for the continuing hazard of high water, Schulte said. The Missouri Department of Transportation's district engineer for Southeast Missouri will also discuss the impact on roads in the region, he said.

For updates, check back at www.semissourian.com or read Saturday's Southeast Missourian.