Forecast calls for more floods as rivers rage
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NEW: Sheriff in Des Arc says of flooding, "I'd never seen it come up so fast"
Arkansas suffers estimated $2M in damage; 35 counties declared disaster areas
Mississippi River well above flood stage in parts of Arkansas, Illinois
It could be midweek before rivers recede -- "they're still rising," official says DES ARC, Arkansas (AP) -- The White River flooded low-lying areas of Des Arc on Monday and continued to rise, as other towns along the river were warned they could suffer their worst flooding in more than a quarter-century.
Wade Monnig and his sister Mandy survey the debris left in his yard Sunday after flooding in Pacific, Missouri.
1 of 2 Tom Roe Memorial Riverfront Park in the town of 2,000 was under water that rose halfway up light poles Monday morning.
"It came up just so fast," Prairie County Sheriff Gary Burnett said Monday. "I'd never seen it come up so fast."
Just south of Des Arc and beyond a levee, water lapped against Rick Thompson's front porch.
Thompson, 38, said he hadn't expected the river to rise so high, and he had no flood insurance.
"I'm going to come back with my boat and get my pictures and bibles and things like that out of there and pray on the rest of it," Thompson said. iReport.com: Send your flood photos and videos
Downtown Des Arc is on a rise and was not in immediate danger.
Torrential rainstorms that struck the Midwest last week caused flooding in parts of Ohio, Indiana and southern Illinois and in wide areas of Missouri. Watch how flooding shut down the only road out of one Arkansas town »
At least 17 deaths have been linked to flooding, wet roads and other weather effects, and one person was missing in Arkansas. Thousands of Missouri residents fled to Red Cross shelters or to the homes of friends or relatives.
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Arkansas braces for historic flooding
Missouri levee holds as river crests
Storms slam states from Maine to Missouri
Upstream from Des Arc, the Black River broke through a 60-year-old levee Saturday before emergency workers and volunteers could stem the tide with sandbags. The Black enters the White River near Newport in northeast Arkansas.
The levee rupture flooded outlying areas south of Pocahontas. The state Highway and Transportation Department closed a highway south of Pocahontas on Monday.
Arkansas emergency management officials have said the early estimate of statewide damage to homes, businesses and infrastructure was at $2 million, and that figure was expected to grow. Forecasts show it likely will be the middle of this week before rivers statewide see significant drops.
Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe declared 35 counties disaster areas.
While water was receding in most areas of Missouri, the state's southeast corner still faces threats. The Mississippi River was expected to reach 41.5 feet Monday at Cape Girardeau, nearly 10 feet above flood stage. New Madrid expects a crest nearly 8 feet above flood stage Wednesday, and the Mississippi at Caruthersville should reach 9 feet above flood stage Friday.
If the Mississippi reaches 42 feet at Cape Girardeau, it would flood 100,000 acres of land and force evacuations of outlying homes, National Weather Service meteorologist Robin Smith said. The city's downtown is protected by a 54-foot flood wall.
Southwest of St. Louis, residents of the town of Pacific, Missouri, are assessing flood damage to more than 200 homes and businesses along the Meramec. Pacific, a town of 7,000 people, has no levee but has been hit by three major floods in 26 years -- in 1982, 1994 and last week.
The Mississippi at Cairo, Illinois, where it joins the Ohio River, was expected to crest at 54 feet Tuesday morning, 14 feet above flood stage. The Ohio River was falling Monday at Louisville, Kentucky, where it crested Friday at 3 feet over flood stage and covered riverside roads with silt and debris.
Several roads in one southwestern Indiana county were still closed by high water Monday, although officials said the flooding risk appeared to be diminishing.
Residents of a mobile home park in Indiana's Vanderburgh County were urged to evacuate during the weekend because of concerns about a nearby levee. Many had returned by Monday.
In eastern Ohio, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said it was working to stabilize a levee near the village of Zoar by midweek. Officials told a community meeting Sunday that the levee was not in imminent danger of failure but has experienced excessive seepage. E-mail to a friend
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