Mississippi River

No Relief For Swollen Rivers With Four Inches Of Rain Forecast For The Weekend

Chris McDaniel — Fri, 03 May 2013 22:01:29 +0000

A storm system that's dropping snow on the western half of the state will bring up to four inches of rain to the St. Louis area by Sunday.

But don't expect much in the way of flash flooding, says National Weather Service hydrologist Mark Fuchs.

"We're not necessarily expecting flash flooding in the classic sense - where you see a very quick rising water coming down the stream," Fuchs said. "But with that being said, there will be some roads in poor drainage areas that could go underwater."

Runaway Barges Cause Oil Spill

Adam Allington — Fri, 03 May 2013 21:52:00 +0000

The Coast Guard is assessing the environmental impact of roughly 300 gallons of crude oil it says spilled into the Mississippi River after more than a dozen barges briefly broke free near Alton, Ill.

The Coast Guard says a vessel hit an area where barges are docked on the river about 1 a.m. this morning, causing 14 to break away from their moorings. Those barges then hit another barge loading crude oil, which caused the spill of about seven barrels (300gallons) worth of oil.

Davis, Enyart Want Corps To Think Broadly On Mississippi River Management

Rachel Lippmann — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 19:29:05 +0000

Two freshman Congressmen from southern Illinois want the Army Corps of Engineers to start thinking of ways it can coordinate management of the Mississippi River to keep cargo traffic flowing during droughts or floods.

Vessel Strike Caused Barges To Break Loose, Then Sink Near Cape Girardeau

The Associated Press and Sean Sandefur — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 16:13:33 +0000

The U.S. Coast Guard has reported that 13 coal barges became dislodged from their tow vessel near Cape Girardeau on Sunday morning, three of which partially sank into the Mississippi. So, what happened?

Most of the 25 barges were soon accounted for after the vessel struck an object around 10:30 a.m. At this time, it is still not clear what that object was.

The Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge at Cape Girardeau was closed for a little more than one hour as a precaution, but it was not struck.

Mayors Rally In DC On Behalf Of Mississippi River

Bill Raack and The Associated Press and The Associ — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 21:27:43 +0000

Mayors from more than a dozen cities and towns along the Mississippi River rallied Thursday in the nation’s capital for more federal attention for the waterway.

The mayors, members of the Mississippi River Cities & Towns Initiative, will work with the newly-formed Mississippi River Caucus. That's a bi-partisan group of members of Congress. St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay is co-chair of the initiative.