More levees in danger along Mississippi

MEYER, Ill. - At least 21 levees along the Mississippi River above St. Louis are in danger of overtopping over the next few days, the Army Corps of Engineers warned Wednesday — a day that saw several setbacks, including one breach that could swamp 47 square miles of prime farmland.

The forecast follows at least 20 compromised levees across the Midwest and along several rivers so far this month that have flooded tens of thousands of acres, forced thousands of people to evacuate and caused losses in the billions of dollars.

The only silver lining to the forecast is that the threatened areas are farmland, not densely populated areas.

Earlier Wednesday, floodwaters with the potential to swamp 47 square miles breached a levee in western Illinois.

The breach flooded farmland near the hamlet of Meyer, Adams County Emergency Management Agency spokeswoman Julie Shepard said.

Meyer, a town of 40 to 50 people, had to be evacuated, and authorities patrolled the town Wednesday morning to make sure no one was left behind, she said.

Flooding at Meyer could swamp 30,000 acres — or about 47 square miles — in the largely rural area, she said.

The flooding toll
Storms and flooding across six states this month have killed 24 people, injured 148 and caused more than $1.5 billion in estimated damage in Iowa alone — a figure that's likely to increase as river levels climb in Missouri and Illinois.

FEMA Administrator R. David Paulison said that as of Wednesday afternoon, officials shifted concern to flooding between St. Louis and the Quad Cities, which include Bettendorf and Davenport in Iowa and Moline and Rock Island in Illinois.

Paulison said he expects that the lower part of the Mississippi will absorb the increased water flow without much impact.

Paulison said the Environmental Protection Agency has been asked to test the water and air quality. FEMA also is organizing national housing task forces in the affected states. No states have requested FEMA trailers as of Wednesday.

In the flooded regions, some food processing plants were expected to be shut down, and officials expected maritime transportation to be closed for at least a week.

The federal government has provided more than 3 million quarts of water, 150 generators, more than 213,000 meals, 13 million sandbags and 4,000 rolls of plastic sheeting, according to FEMA and Army Corps tallies.

More than 28,000 people have registered for FEMA disaster assistance. Paulison said only 9 percent of them have flood insurance. Those without flood insurance are limited in what federal assistance they can receive.

Barge traffic cut off
A 280-mile stretch of the Mississippi River remained closed between Fulton, Ill., and Winfield, Mo., because of flooding, and is expected to remain closed for at least 10 more days. Lynn Muench, of the towboat and barge trade group The American Waterways Operators, said as many as 10 tows — each with as many as 15 barges — were stuck on the upper Mississippi River.

Interactive map Rampaging rivers Rivers in many parts of the upper Midwest have overrun their banks in recent weeks. Click to see latest developments as well as current and historical flooding data.

About 25,000 people in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, were forced from their homes, 19 buildings at the University of Iowa were flooded and water treatment plants in several cities were knocked out.

Later in the week, the Mississippi is expected to threaten a host of other communities, leading officials to consider evacuation plans and begin sandbagging.

In Clarksville — a historic artists' town of 500 between St. Louis and Hannibal, Mo. — National Guard members, inmates and students were sandbagging. Five blocks were already swamped, but volunteers were doing their best to save buildings housing the shops of artisans and craftsmen.

"We fix one thing and it breaks," Mayor Jo Anne Smiley said. "Sewers are plugged up. We have leaks in walls and people who need things. We're boating in food to people."

1993 buyouts helped
But even as the water jeopardized scores of additional homes and businesses, officials said the damage could have been worse if the federal government had not purchased low-lying land after historic floods in 1993 that caused $12 billion in damage.

Since then, the government bought out more than 9,000 homeowners, turning much of the land into parks and undeveloped areas that can be allowed to flood with less risk. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has moved or flood-proofed about 30,000 properties.

The effort required whole communities to be moved, such as Rhineland, Mo., and Valmeyer, Ill.

In Iowa, FEMA spent $1.6 million to buy out residents of Elkport, population 80, and then knock down the village's remaining buildings. Some residents moved to Garber, Elkport's twin city across the Turkey River, but others abandoned the area.

"There's nothing there in Elkport anymore," said Helen Jennings of Garber. "They built new houses in different places."

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