- Messages
- 79,278
- Reaction score
- 45,630
By Nick Carey
1 hour, 31 minutes ago
FORT MADISON, Iowa (Reuters) - The swollen Mississippi River ran over the top of at least nine more levees
ADVERTISEMENT
on Wednesday as floodwaters swallowed up more U.S. farmland, feeding inflation fears as corn prices soared to a record high.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said a levee broke at 1 a.m. CDT near Meyer, Illinois, leaving more than 17,000 acres of prime farmland at risk from the floodwaters.
The rising river also ran over the tops of eight more levees north of St. Louis overnight, bringing the total number of compromised levees on the most important U.S. inland waterway to 19.
"They were lower level agricultural levees," said spokesman Alan Dooley. "We're also watching another seven levees that may overtop in the next couple of days ... all agricultural levees."
The slow-rolling disaster, the worst U.S. Midwest floods for 15 years, has flooded vast sections of the U.S. farm belt and forced tens of thousands of people from their homes.
Estimates are that 5 million acres have been ruined and will not produce a crop this year. That has sent U.S. grain and livestock soaring, along with food price inflation worries.
The Army Corps of Engineers, which operates U.S. river locks and dams, on Tuesday identified 26 levees protecting about 285,000 acres of prime cropland that were already under high water or were at high risk of flooding. Another seven were seen as potential risks.
"Those levees were designed for a storm not the size that that has hit for now," U.S. Army Corps Brigadier General Michael Walsh told NBC's "Today" show.
"We do need to work on our infrastructure in this country and certainly levees as well," he said.
Drier weather since Sunday has helped the worst-flooded areas of Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin to dry out. But as rivers have receded, the run-off has swollen the south-bound rush of the Mississippi, leading to more flooding and stress on levees.
WEATHER WATCH
Weather forecasters said thunderstorms may return to Iowa and Illinois starting on Thursday.
Iowa and Illinois usually produce one-third of all U.S. corn and soybeans. So expected smaller crops from the main sources of livestock feed, renewable fuels like ethanol, starch and edible oils has sent commodity prices to record highs.
Chicago Board of Trade corn prices, the world benchmark, hit a record high of $8.07 a bushel in overnight trading.
Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated or forced from their homes, with the worst flooding striking Iowa. Evacuations have also affected parts of Indiana, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Minnesota.
(Additional reporting by Lisa Shumaker, Peter Bohan and Christine Stebbins in Chicago; Debbie Charles in Washington; Writing by Andrew Stern; Editing by Frances Kerry)
1 hour, 31 minutes ago
FORT MADISON, Iowa (Reuters) - The swollen Mississippi River ran over the top of at least nine more levees
ADVERTISEMENT
on Wednesday as floodwaters swallowed up more U.S. farmland, feeding inflation fears as corn prices soared to a record high.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said a levee broke at 1 a.m. CDT near Meyer, Illinois, leaving more than 17,000 acres of prime farmland at risk from the floodwaters.
The rising river also ran over the tops of eight more levees north of St. Louis overnight, bringing the total number of compromised levees on the most important U.S. inland waterway to 19.
"They were lower level agricultural levees," said spokesman Alan Dooley. "We're also watching another seven levees that may overtop in the next couple of days ... all agricultural levees."
The slow-rolling disaster, the worst U.S. Midwest floods for 15 years, has flooded vast sections of the U.S. farm belt and forced tens of thousands of people from their homes.
Estimates are that 5 million acres have been ruined and will not produce a crop this year. That has sent U.S. grain and livestock soaring, along with food price inflation worries.
The Army Corps of Engineers, which operates U.S. river locks and dams, on Tuesday identified 26 levees protecting about 285,000 acres of prime cropland that were already under high water or were at high risk of flooding. Another seven were seen as potential risks.
"Those levees were designed for a storm not the size that that has hit for now," U.S. Army Corps Brigadier General Michael Walsh told NBC's "Today" show.
"We do need to work on our infrastructure in this country and certainly levees as well," he said.
Drier weather since Sunday has helped the worst-flooded areas of Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin to dry out. But as rivers have receded, the run-off has swollen the south-bound rush of the Mississippi, leading to more flooding and stress on levees.
WEATHER WATCH
Weather forecasters said thunderstorms may return to Iowa and Illinois starting on Thursday.
Iowa and Illinois usually produce one-third of all U.S. corn and soybeans. So expected smaller crops from the main sources of livestock feed, renewable fuels like ethanol, starch and edible oils has sent commodity prices to record highs.
Chicago Board of Trade corn prices, the world benchmark, hit a record high of $8.07 a bushel in overnight trading.
Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated or forced from their homes, with the worst flooding striking Iowa. Evacuations have also affected parts of Indiana, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Minnesota.
(Additional reporting by Lisa Shumaker, Peter Bohan and Christine Stebbins in Chicago; Debbie Charles in Washington; Writing by Andrew Stern; Editing by Frances Kerry)
