Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, July 23, 1993 TAG: 9307230154
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: DES MOINES, IOWA LENGTH: Medium
In Illinois, the Mississippi River swept over an island that it created in a flood more than a century ago. After a levee blew out on the 15,000-acre Kaskaskia Island, someone rang the town's 252-year-old "Liberty Bell of the West" to warn anyone who hadn't already fled.
Heavy rains also caused flooding in parts of Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and North Dakota. And more thunderstorms, some of them strong, were developing throughout the Midwest during the evening. Flooding rains started in the Midwest more than a month and a half ago.
No relief came from Congress on Thursday, when $3 billion in emergency aid was held up in the House because of disputes over how to pay for the assistance. It wasn't clear when a vote would be held.
And no relief came from the Mississippi River, which held in a "flat, broad crest" for more than 200 miles from Grafton, Ill., to Cape Girardeau, Mo., said Tom Dietrich, a National Weather Service hydrologist in St. Louis.
"We really are at crest and we are going to be hanging up there the next three, four, five days," Dietrich said.
River engineers are worried that hundreds of miles of saturated levees could crumble as the high water persists.
The river was at 46.9 feet Thursday at St. Louis, down slightly from the record 47.05 feet Tuesday night, Dietrich said. He said the level will continue to fluctuate because of factors including upstream rain, levee breaks and levee repairs. Flood stage is 30 feet.
Downtown St. Louis is protected by a 52-foot floodwall, but a neighborhood at the city's southern tip has been badly flooded as sandbagged levees were swept away.
One of the worst levee breaks along the Mississippi was one at West Quincy, Mo., last Friday that closed the last open bridge over the river for a 200-mile stretch. Dan Campbell, sheriff of Marion County, Mo., said Thursday he will investigate whether someone deliberately broke that levee. He said water district officials were suspicious because the levee seemed to be in good condition just before the break.
In rainy Des Moines, traffic returned to highways and downtown businesses reopened for the first time since the Raccoon River swamped the city's water plant July 11, knocking out service to 250,000 people.
It was the longest that such a large U.S. city has been without running water.
After they refilled the city's 810 miles of mains and restored fire protection, officials announced at midmorning that people in one quadrant of the city could open faucets and resume flushing toilets and taking showers.
As soon as she heard the news, Debbie Dodge exclaimed to her 5-year-old son, "Willie, you can take a bath by yourself. Gimme five."
"Yes!" Willie replied as he slapped his mother's outstretched palm. While the water was off, Willie had to bathe with his 2 1/2-year-old sister and 18-month-old brother.
By evening, water service was back to all four quadrants of the city and suburbs. The water won't be safe to drink for at least three weeks.
In Illinois, Kaskaskia Island - created when the Mississippi changed course in an 1881 flood - was being overrun by the river after a section of levee failed.
Most of the 125 residents who remained in recent days fled during the night. Workers trying to plug the levee were taken from the island by boat.
by CNB