Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, July 1, 1993 TAG: 9307010353
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-11 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
At least two people were reported drowned Wednesday along surging tributaries in Minnesota. Barge traffic has been suspended between St. Paul and St. Louis along a 500-mile stretch of the river used as the major transportation lifeline for the Midwest's shipment of grain, agricultural products and chemicals.
In several riverfront towns, volunteers joined by National Guardsmen lined up in human chains to deliver sandbags they hope will buttress the Mississippi's extensive system of levees. But many other areas inundated during the 1965 flood have stayed dry because of new levees, reservoirs and flood control projects built over the past 28 years.
Spongy earth and mud-caked waters that rose to 18 feet forced public safety officials to shut down the only bridge connecting the town of Sabula, Iowa, with neighboring Savanna, Ill.
Authorities reported that an 11-year-old girl drowned while wading in floodwaters near LeCenter, Minn. The body of a 4-year-old St. Paul boy who had gone fishing was recovered from the Redwood River near Lynd, Minn.
River levels approaching and even topping 20 feet - up to 5 feet above normal flood stages in some spots - were reported. More than 4 inches of rain were recorded in parts of Iowa overnight, and with more storms predicted for the rest of the week, emergency officials braced for the possibility of evacuating some low-lying communities.
Near Pleasant Valley, Iowa, floodwaters surging from the Mississippi have reversed the riverward flow of Spencer Creek.
In Davenport, a city of 65,000 in the Quad Cities section of Iowa, flood waters expected to crest at a record 22 1/2 feet on Saturday already had lapped more than two blocks into a section of restaurants and tourist haunts.
Keywords:
FATALITY
by CNB