MISSISSIPPI RIVER IS EXPECTED TO CREST TODAY

The Mississippi River at Cape Girardeau is forecast to crest late this afternoon at almost four feet above flood stage. But the National Weather Service said if predicted rains occur north of here this week it could cause the river to rise even higher, or delay the crest.

Meanwhile, forecasters said the potential for serious flooding along the Mississippi River has increased this past week because ground is waterlogged. The river is now at or above flood stage from central Iowa to the Missouri Bootheel, and there's a good chance of more rain today and tonight across much of the upper Midwest.

In a statement Wednesday by the Weather Service at St. Charles, hydrologist Jack Burns said all of the snow cover in the Upper Mississippi River basin has melted and is now in the river headed downstream.

Burns said the Mississippi from Dubuque, Iowa, to Caruthersville is near bankfull or above bankfull.

He said: "The ground is saturated with water due to rain the past several days. Any more rain that falls will not be absorbed into the ground and will either raise the river level or prolong the recession of the water level.

"The river levels from Chester, Ill, through the Cape Girardeau area, to just above the mouth of the Ohio River, are presently 3 to 4 feet above flood stage. Due to the large flows20coming out of the Ohio River at Cairo, the river level at Cairo is 8 feet above flood stage with just a slight fall expected over at least the next three to four days."

Burns said rain and thunderstorm activity, some of it possibly20heavy, is expected today and tonight over much of Missouri, Illinois and other parts of the Upper Midwest. "Rain is in the forecast20and can be expected to possibly aggravate and change these forecasts," he said.

If the rain is in the right amounts at the right time and in the right locations, Burns said20it's possible the Mississippi at Cape Girardeau could rise to 40 feet or higher later this month.

On Wednesday the Mississippi at Cape Girardeau was at an estimated stage of 35.6 feet, up seven-tenths of a foot from a level of 34.9 feet on Tuesday. The river went into flood stage (32 feet) at Cape Girardeau on April 3. It's the second time in less than a month that the river has gone above flood stage. On March 11 the river here crested at 35 feet.

The three-day forecast calls for the Mississippi here to20crest20late today at 35.9 feet.

At Cairo the Ohio was at 48.2 feet on Wednesday, 8 feet above flood stage. It is forecast to drop to 48.1 today, 47.9 on Friday, and 47.6 on Saturday. The forecasts are based on no substantial precipitation occurring to the north of Cape Girardeau soon, Burns said.

Both the Mill Street and Merriwether Street pumping stations were reopened over the weekend as the river approached flood stage at Cape Girardeau. A spokesman for the Main Street Levee District said the Merriwether Street Station was opened on Friday. The Mill Street station, which is operated by Union Electric personnel, was also opened Friday.

The Themis Street floodgate was closed Monday afternoon as the river approached 36 feet. The action was taken to prevent wavewash from passing towboats from spilling onto Water Street. The Broadway floodgate is not closed until the river reaches 37.8 feet.

The last significant flooding on the river occurred at Cape Girardeau on May 21, 1990, when it crested at 39.6 feet. On Oct. 11, 1986, the river here crested at 42 feet. The record flood crest at Cape Girardeau occurred on May 1, 1973, when the river crested here at 45.6 feet.

Although unprotected low-lying areas along both sides of the river and along the north side of the Diversion Channel are now under water, serious flooding does not occur in Cape Girardeau until the river reaches 38 feet. At that level, several streets in the north and south areas of the city are covered with water.

The high water on the river is also causing surface water inside the East Cape-Clear Creek Levee District20between East Cape Girardeau and Gale, Ill., to begin backing up in fields because the surface water cannot drain by gravity flow into the river.20As a result, some farmers inside the levee system have had to delay ground preparation for spring planting. Other river bottomlands north and south of Cape Girardeau are also underwater, which means spring planting will be a little late this year.