
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, July 10, 1993                   TAG: 9307100154
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: The Washington Post
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

DISASTROUS TORRENT ROLLS ON

The Mississippi River, again showing people who's boss, continued shoving levees and other structures aside in the upper Midwest Friday even as officials expressed cautious optimism that most crops will survive sufficiently to prevent major price increases.

Heavy thunderstorms continued to feed swollen rivers in Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin. One storm in Nebraska produced 100 mph winds, and storms regularly dumped 3 inches or more of rain in short periods.

Hundreds of volunteers hauled sandbags to strained levees, but their efforts generally proved futile against the record flow of water. U.S. Geological Survey authorities said the river at Keokuk, Iowa, had reached 240.1 billion gallons a day, more than four times normal and surpassing the previous record of 222.1 billion gallons in 1973.

Officials with the Army Corps of Engineers said continued rain could cause a second crest in certain areas where residents thought they had seen the worst.

Officials of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), criticized for acting too slowly in previous natural disasters, held a briefing Friday to assure flood victims they will move swiftly in their first major test under President Clinton.

James R. Donald, an Agriculture Department official who must determine the extent of crop damage, said, "This is the most precipitation we've had in a century or so." He did cite encouraging signs, saying 96 percent of the corn crop was planted before the flooding. Corn is resilient and can survive underwater for several days.

by CNB