Caruthersville residents continue to watch river levels
CARUTHERSVILLE, MO (KFVS) - River levels are slowly falling and residents and officials along the Mississippi river downstream in Caruthersville are continuing to watch levels.
According to the Army Corps of Engineers there are no issues to report in Caruthersville on Saturday.
The Corps said Saturday, May 8 there were no new issues to report. On their facebook page it stated, "Our engineers have been on site the last two days inspecting the site and there are no issues to report. The National Guard has assisted placing sandbags on the backside of the wall."
The crest of the Mississippi is a record that goes back nearly 75 years.
Charles Davis, Chief Engineer of the St. Francis Levee District, said on Saturday, May 7, that the Mississippi River crested at 47.7 feet on the Caruthersville gauge.
Davis says according to the current forecast, the river should fall slowly over the next several days.
The historic crest Saturday, May 8 at Caruthersville is 1.6 feet over the previous record set in 1937 of 46.0 feet.
Among the many National Guard soldiers in Caruthersville is the Festus-based 220th Engineer Company.
As flood waters threatened to breach the sea wall protecting this city from the swollen Mississippi River on Friday, National Guard Soldiers of the Festus-based Company were helping to save the town.
About 20 Soldiers were part of a massive, 5-day effort to build a secondary flood wall parallel to the existing structure in the event the permanent wall was breached.
According to the National Guard, more than 100 Missouri National Guardsmen, local officials and about 40 inmates from the Southeast Correctional Center in Charleston were involved in the project, which began May 3.
By Saturday, the wall was more than 3,200 feet long and contained more than 60,000 sand bags, along with countless tons of earth and gravel.
Staff Sgt. Steven Anderson, of Hillsboro, said the 220th was charged with operating heavy equipment and delivering material to the project site.
"It's been a daunting task," Anderson said. "We've been hauling a lot of material, building up the wall. We're also building platforms for giant pumps in the event of any spill-over."
The Pemiscot County Sheriff's Office said Saturday, May 8 there were no major concerns with the levee system there.
Davis says the "no trespass" order with regard to all Levee District property, including the Caruthersville floodwall, remains in effect until further notice.
The Corps say they will continue to monitor the site for safety.
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