Long weekend of rain threatens flooded Midwest

Chris Puckett gives his dog Reba a hug as he fishes on a flooded Main Street in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, on Thursday

In this story: Help from the National Guard Most homes remaining dry River still closed RELATED STORIES, SITES

DAVENPORT, Iowa (CNN) -- Forecasts of a long weekend of rain have residents along the upper Mississippi River considering more sandbags.

The National Weather Service is predicting thunderstorms Friday, showers Sunday and rain Monday for much of the areas of Minnesota and Wisconsin that drain into the Mississippi.

People in Davenport, Iowa, a city that lacks the extensive levees of many other communities along the Mississippi, may have the most to worry about. The river level in the city has been rising at the rate of about a foot a day.

VIDEO CNN's Keith Oppenheim says residents are responding calmly as waters continue to rise Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)    INTERACTIVE Techniques for fighting floodwaters    CNN WEATHER FORECASTS Davenport, IA La Crosse, WI Shakopee, WI Grand Forks, ND Granite Falls, MN    RESOURCES CNN weather satellite: U.S. North Central

With the rain, forecasters are predicting flood crests that will challenge records from Minneapolis to at least as far south as the Quad Cities, which includes Davenport.

And the weather service is warning that there will be no early end to the high water.

"We want to stress that the Mississippi will remain at high levels and above flood stage for weeks yet," said Ken King, chief of hydrologic services at the NWS Central Region headquarters in Kansas City, Missouri.

"Especially if you look downstream, there will be no short resolution to the flood problems. As it stands right now, we're projecting flooding of some degree all the way past St. Louis," he said.

At Lock and Dam 15 on the Mississippi at the Quad Cities, the water is projected to crest next Tuesday and Wednesday between 21.5 and 22.5 feet, just shy of the record of 22.63 set in the flood of 1993.

Davenport officials said Thursday the city is closing down its wastewater treatment plant until the water recedes, meaning that raw sewage will be routed directly into the river.

Plant Manager Dennis Ryan said the plant is "high and dry," but the access road to it is under five feet of water. "We probably won't start up the plant again until Monday the following week (the week beginning April 30)."

"The public should be cautioned about the floodwater" downstream, he said.

Davenport also closed a number of streets and interstate ramps near the river.

Buildings sit in floodwaters from the Mississippi River in Waupeton, Iowa

Help from the National Guard

Iowa National Guardsmen were concentrating Thursday on sandbagging the Davenport drinking water plant, operated by Iowa American Water Co., to protect the city's water supply from the contamination from the rising river.

"We've built a 4,000-foot-long dike to protect the drinking water plant," said spokeswoman Lisa Reisen. "We don't expect it to affect our 55,000 customers. The drinking water is safe. ... For the last week we've been working to make sure the plant is OK."

Another 75 National Guardsmen were added to the 85 already had working on adding sandbags to critical points. In addition to Davenport, The Iowa National Guard was focusing on the communities of Camanche, Dubuque, and Marquette, and the county of Muscatine.

"Our primary task is to raise levees to prevent property damage, and to help local officials," Guard Col. Robert King said.

In Camanche, about 20 miles north of the Quad Cities area, Public Works Director Dave Rickertsen supplemented his seven-member department with 50 National Guardsmen.

"We're building berm walls to protect against a river level of 25 feet," Rickertsen said.

The National Weather Service forecast a crest there of 24 feet Wednesday, depending on how much rain falls.

"Camanche is a pretty flat community so even an extra inch can go along way," said Rickertsen. "When it starts to drop we can breathe easily."

The Mississippi River is expected to crest later this week

Most homes remaining dry

Farther upriver at Dubuque, where the record water level of 26.81 feet was set in 1965, a crest of 25 to 26 feet is expected Sunday.

Still farther north, the river crested Thursday about 6 feet above the 17-foot flood level in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. Water covered several streets, but sandbags and water pumps were keeping most homes relatively dry.

The situation was similar elsewhere along the upper Mississippi, where it was estimated that only about 400 homes in some 200 miles experienced some flooding.

Forecasters estimated the weekend rain could raise the water level at Prairie du Chien as much as another foot, which could require residents in low areas to add more sandbags to their makeshift levees.

"If it just comes up another foot, we will be OK," Prairie du Chien Mayor Mary Jane Faas told The Associated Press.

River still closed

Many of the residents along the river, like Rose Serpe, have few complaints about where they live, despite major floods in 1965, 1993 and again this year.

"I love living on the river. I love the wildlife," the Prairie du Chien resident said.

But the latest flooding has temporarily forced her out of her home.

"The water's about to come in the house. I've probably got an inch or so to go before it's on the first floor. It's just not safe in the house," she said. But she has been going back periodically to check on her cat, who remained behind.

Another resident, Morris Lessard, said he is applying lessons learned from previous floods. "Lost most of my stuff in the '65 flood and '67," he said. "All I can do is keep building her up, the dike higher and higher."

Those who weren't around for those floods have no shortage of advice.

"A lot of parents are saying to the kids, here's what we did, here's how we kept the water down in our basement," said Jill Bode of the American Red Cross.

Because of the high water, a 413-mile stretch of the upper Mississippi River has been closed to commercial traffic. Lt. Russ Brown with the Coast Guard 8th District in New Orleans said private boaters in small craft, though not directly under the closure order, were advised not to travel on the river.

Local officials have expressed concern that even small wakes could cause water -- which in some cases is just inches below the top of dikes -- to spill over and cause further flooding.

Mississippi edging up banks of Quad Cities area
April 18, 2001
Minnesota, Wisconsin watch flood-strained dikes
April 17, 2001
Flood predictions lowered, but Midwest rivers still rising
April 13, 2001

Minnesota Department of Public Safety
The National Weather Servicee

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