Mississippi River’s crest delayed until Saturday, raised several inches
UPDATE: The National Weather Service has now forecast the Mississippi’s River Crest at 45.8 feet on Saturday afternoon. A previous version of this story reported the river would crest Sunday at the same height.
The forecasted crest for the Mississippi River has been raised several inches and delayed until Saturday, according to the National Weather Service.
The Mississippi River is now expected to crest at varying levels around the area. At St. Louis, the river is forecast to crest at 45.8 feet, a little more than three feet shy of the 1993 record of 49 feet. It had been expected that the river would crest on Friday at 45.3 feet.
In Alton, at the Melvin Price Lock and Dam, the river will crest at 39 feet, and in Grafton the river will crest at 35 feet.
The crest forecast was lowered Wednesday due to the Nutwood Levee breach along the Illinois River in Hardin. The original crest was predicted to reach 46 feet earlier in the week.
Senior Hydrologist Mark Fuchs with the St. Louis branch of the National Weather Service said a breach relieved flood pressure temporarily, dropping the expected crest nearly a foot.
However, the river continued to rise Wednesday and Thursday morning due to a delayed crest in the Missouri River the National Weather Service did not expect and a rise in the forecast near Jefferson City and Herman, Missouri due to backflow from the Osage River and other sources
Fuchs said after the Nutwood Levee broke, the area that was exposed filled up and the deficit water then headed back down river, raising the flood level up again and playing a part in the delay of the crest.
More Flooding Possible
The next few weeks look better, Fuchs added. He said most precipitation in the coming weeks will be minor or south of the metro-east. and that this week’s rain isn’t expected to have a large effect on the height of the river.
However, he said the next few months have an above average chance of above-average levels of precipitation, meaning its possible more flooding is on the horizon.
“It doesn’t take all that much excessive rainfall to make life miserable again,” Fuchs said.
Meanwhile, more than 200 National Guard soldiers have been deployed to the metro-east by Gov. J.B. Pritzker to help with flooding efforts. Troops are helping shore up levees and patrolling for trespassers, which have proved to be an issue in the past week.
“We have a long road ahead of us,” Pritzker said when he visited Grafton earlier this week.
Rivers closed
Almost all of the rivers in the area have been closed or restricted. The Kaskaskia River has been completely shut down and, according to police, if anyone is found on the river they will be fined without warning.
Travel on the Mississippi has been restricted by the Coast Guard from Alton to Gladstone due to the extremely high waters. However, permission to travel on the river is being given on a case-by-case basis to barge operators.
Road Closures
Over the past several days, the Illinois Department of Transportation and the Missouri Department of Transportation have announced road closures due to flooding of the Mississippi River in and near the metro-east area.
Those include the following:
Illinois 108 from Eldred to Illinois 96, which includes the Kampsville Ferry
The Chester Bridge, which has been closed by the Missouri Department of Transportation since Sunday
The Levee Gates at Illinois 3/111 in East Alton
Illinois 100 from U.S. 67 in Alton to Illinois 16 in Jersey County
U.S. 67 @ IL 100 in Alton
Illinois 3 Truck By-Pass (Water Street) in Chester
IL 155 outside of Prairie du Rocher
Brussels Ferry
Kaskaskia Street in Chester
IL 100 in Calhoun County from just North of the Joe Page Bridge to Pearl
Illinois 96 from County Highway 2 to Crooked Creek Hollow Road near Mozier, Calhoun County (Illinois 96 from Crooked Creek Hollow Road north to Pike County Line is open to local traffic)
Illinois 3 at Mary’s River to the Jackson County line in Randolph County
Several roads near and in Valmeyer in Monroe County
This story was originally published June 6, 2019 at 12:27 PM.