Areas affected by flooding

Marty Pope, a hydrologist with the National Weather Service’s office in Pearl, Mississippi, said that crests are lower because dams held back water in Kentucky and that less water from the Arkansas River will be dumping into the Mississippi as it crests.

The flood, fueled by more than 10 inches (25 centimeters) of rain over a three-day period that began Christmas Day, is blamed for 25 deaths in Illinois and Missouri, reflecting Sunday’s discovery of the body of a second teenager who drowned in central Illinois’ Christian County.

The water receded in most places Sunday but continued to rise in a few.

Cleanup in the St. Louis region was largely focused around the Meramec.

On Saturday, President Barack Obama signed a federal emergency declaration for Missouri, allowing federal aid to be used to bolster state and local efforts.

In Thebes, Illinois, about 125 miles (201 km) downriver from St. Louis, the floodwater was expected to crest at 47.5 feet (14 m) on Sunday, more than 1.5 feet (0.5 meters) above the 1995 record, the NWS said. Power at several locations around the town has been shut off by police, a reporter for the Alton Telegraph said. “We will restart the facility as soon as it is safe to do so”, he said. The worst of the flooding along the Arkansas River appears to be over from Fort Smith to Morrilton to Little Rock.

Wyckoff lives in Harbor Town and said when she looks out her window each morning, she can not believe what she sees. Fifteen have died in Missouri.

An hour south of St Louis, in Chester, Illinois, the Menard County correctional facility transferred inmates out of the prison on Tuesday as floodwaters threatened.

“We’ll just have to wait for the water to go down to get a better idea of what that impact is”.

Missouri Governor Jay Nixon on Saturday toured communities ravaged by flooding that killed at least 31 people in several states and forced large-scale evacuations, as the danger of rising waters shifted to Arkansas and beyond.

“I lost my home”. He was still unpacking Saturday after the evacuation was lifted.

MS officials closed two wildlife management areas to hunting, and authorities said two state highways are likely to flood.

“It was bad from every direction”, Newman said.

The floodwaters have crested in most areas of the state now, though dozens of roads remain swamped and hundreds of people are still waiting to see what remains of the possessions in their inundated homes.

The Mississippi River is dropping in the southeast Missouri town of Cape Girardeau, much to the relief of flood fighters in that area.

The river is expected to crest at the moderate flood stage on Thursday in Memphis, Tennessee, according to the NWS.

“It’s still a very significant flood”, Spriggs said.

The unusual winter flood is expected to affect people farther down the MS over the coming weeks, with officials in Memphis, Vicksburg and New Orleans among those attempting to prepare residents for expected flooding.

Rauner said that he activated the National Guard to be on standby to help evacuate people and make emergency rescues if necessary.

Downriver at Jackson, the weather service reports minor flooding at Natchez, with the river edging toward flood stage at Vicksburg.