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Corps of engineers warns of SE Mo. flood risk

Satellite images show the Birds Point-New Madrid floodway before (bottom) and after (top) the intentional breach of the levee in May 2011.
(via Flickr/NASA Earth Observatory)
Satellite images show the Birds Point-New Madrid floodway before (bottom) and after (top) the intentional breach of the levee in May 2011.

The Army Corps of Engineers says it's likely there will be more flooding along a Mississippi River floodway in southeast Missouri that was inundated earlier this year.

The corps says that based on forecasts of unseasonably high river levels there is a "significant risk" of more flooding along the Birds Point Floodway in the near future.

In May, the corps blew three holes in the levee to relieve pressure at the height of the Mississippi River flooding that was threatening nearby Cairo, Ill. About 130,000 acres of farmland were damaged, along with dozens of homes.

The corps says weather patterns that include heavy rains in the region are expected through the middle of December. Higher than usual levels of precipitation are also forecast through spring.