Mississippi River flood warning issued

The Mississippi River may break flood stage this weekend in parts of Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois, prompting the National Weather Service to issue a river flood warning.

The weather service issued the warning for Cape Girardeau, Perry and Scott counties in Missouri and Alexander and Union counties in Illinois.

The river stage was at 29.8 feet Wednesday morning, and it was expected to break the 32-foot flood stage this weekend, cresting at about 34 feet before slowly dropping.

Water at these levels shouldn't have major effects on people or businesses.

The high water follows a winter of very low river levels that reduced shipping and threatened to shut down river commerce. Recent storms and snowfall have helped the river rise quickly.