THEBES, Ill. -- John Reaves pulled off his rubber knee boots, stepped out of his metal fishing boat and surveyed his surroundings.

With his house on stilts, surrounded by muddy swirling water, Reaves' domain would seem more appropriate in the deep bayous of Southern Louisiana than the quiet river hamlet of Thebes in Southern Illinois.

Like hundreds of area residents in Southern Illinois, Reaves is keeping a wary eye on the raging Mississippi River.

Since moving to Thebes in 1985, Reaves, a river worker, has seen the Mississippi at its more cantankerous moments.

This time, however, tops it all, he says.

Reaves, and Bob Wright, who lives nearby, constructed their homes in accordance with government regulations that specified they be built on stilts to conform to the flood plains.

"I don't think we'll have to move out, even with the forecast of a record 47-foot crest," said Reaves. "My wife measured Saturday and we appear to have plenty of room."

The river situation is an inconvenience, said Reaves.

"The worst part of it is that I lost my tomato crop," he said, adding that another inconvenience was the need to occasionally transport his two poodle dogs back and forth to land to heed nature's call.

Reaves and Wright are more fortunate than some along the Mississippi River. People have been fleeing their homes as the Mississippi continues to score victories in sandbag wars along its wide expanse.

Louis Maze doesn't want to see that happen in Alexander County around the Olive Branch, Horseshoe Lake and Miller City area.

Workers with bulldozers, trucks and other earth-moving equipment are working to add height to an earthen dike in the Dog Tooth Bend along the Old Fayville Road area about five miles west of Olive Branch.

More than 20 trucks were in use this weekend to haul silica rock and gravel to the top of the existing levee.

"We had a meeting at Olive Branch Friday," said Maze, an Alexander County commissioner. In attendance were levee district, county and state officials.

"The county agreed to coordinate efforts to increase the height of the levee near old Fayville," Maze said. "If this levee goes, considerable flooding would take place in the Olive Branch and Miller City areas."

During the past 36 hours, more than 200 loads of the silica and gravel have been placed on the levee, said Ralph Newell of the Illinois Department of Transportation, "We're in the process of leveling the levee first, then raising it.

"The Dog Tooth Bend levee has a low section of about three-fourths of a mile," added Maze. "We want to raise the levee at least three or four feet.

"We have access to silica rocks, gravel and sand and all trucks are busy," he said. "We planned to work until dark Saturday night, and be back again early Sunday morning."

Maze said the silica rock provided a good packing compound for the levee.

And the water is rising slower than expected it was 42.3 feet at Cape Girardeau Saturday morning instead of the forecasted 43.2 feet.

"However, the 47-foot crest is still expected sometime next week," Maze said. "If we can add four feet to this section of the levee we'll be okay."

Like most flood officials, Maze is asking sightseers to stay out of the flood area. "We don't need a lot of people driving these roads. There's already a steady stream of vehicles hauling the gravel in," he said.

"Everybody is cooperating," he added. "We have state crews, state trucks from Pulaski, Johnson and Union counties. We're also hauling some sand to Thebes, and we have several thousand sand bags coming."

Meanwhile, the East Cape Girardeau-Clear Creek Levee District is hopeful that the 55-foot earthen levee along the Mississippi River will hold.

"We're keeping close watch on the levee," said William E. Colyer, a member of the levee district. "We have sectioned it off, and certain people are responsible to keep check on their section every three or four hours."

Colyer said the Army Corps of Engineers also was keeping watch, running patrols along the levee four to five times daily.

"We don't anticipate any problems, but we are concerned," said Colyer. "The levee was designed to handle water up to 55 feet. We do have a low spot (52 feet) at the south end."

The problem in the East Cape Girardeau area at this time is not the river, Colyer said. "It's the seep water. We're fortunate that we're having 95 degree weather. Some of the seep water evaporates in this hot, humid weather."

Traffic is still running on Route 3, between Route 146 and the Gale intersection.

"The water is sloshing up on the shoulder, but so far people can travel the highway," said Colyer. "We would urge, however, that anyone who can avoid the route to do so. We don't need sightseers."

A few people in the area have evacuated, noted Colyer.

"Some farmers in particular have moved their equipment to higher ground," said Colyer, who farms about 3,500 acres. "I haven't moved any tractors, but I'm not critical of anyone for taking precautions, and I'm certainly not telling anyone not to move."

Colyer said he was glad to see the slowdown in the rise of the Mississippi.

"We're still looking at a 47-foot crest at Cape Girardeau by about Friday of next week," said Colyer. "Meanwhile we'll continue to keep close watch on the levee."

Several roads have been closed in Southern Illinois. The Illinois State Police reported Saturday that a portion of Route 3 at Rockwood, south of Chester, remained closed, and the Old Cape Road from Reynoldsville to Jonesboro was closed.

Also closed is the Gale-McClure gravel road. Residents along the road have been forced to park their vehicles at the Clear Creek levee and boat into their homes.

Some Illinois bridges have been closed, but the bridge at Chester, which crosses into Missouri, remains open.

The Mississippi has blocked the main entrance to Menard Prison at Chester. The Illinois State Patrol reported that officials have a contingency plan to move prisoners if necessary, but by late Saturday night, no prisoners had been moved.