Flooding threatens several US communities along Mississippi River

Millions of people living along the Mississippi River braced Saturday for flooding as surging water moved south from hard-hit Missouri where heavy rainfall had already caused rivers and streams to spill over their banks, dpa reported.

Major flooding is occurring or forecast in several states along the Mississippi River, the National Weather Service said. The river crested in St Louis, Missouri, on Friday after spilling its banks in several location there.

"Water is still rising in southern Missouri," Missouri Governor Jay Nixon said on CNN. "It was a storm we are still dealing with in emergency management."

Nixon described the flooding as historic, saying the water level was more than 1 metre over previous highs in some places.

"Water levels will continue to rise in Memphis, Tennessee, and Greenville, Mississippi, as well as Baton Rouge, Louisiana, through
the second week of January," according to Accuweather. "Residents in these areas will want to be prepared for historic flooding."

The flood warnings cover an area where an estimated 8 million people live in 16 states.

Heavy rainfall earlier this week across several south-central and Midwestern states caused the flooding. Thirteen deaths were linked to the storms in Missouri alone, officials in that state said. Those deaths were among 24 throughout the region, news reports said.

Source: SPA