Tagged: Mississippi River

The National Weather Service is issuing flood warnings in Kentucky and Tennessee as the Mississippi River starts to slowly rise from northern floodwaters, but officials say the rising water should not have a significant impact.

NWS Meteorologist Marlene Mickelson in Memphis says the lower part of the Mississippi River will see elevated levels through the next two weeks.

Mississippi River shippers say they're returning to handling full loads because the drought-ravaged waterway has benefited from winter storms and aggressive rock-clearing.

The Army Corps of Engineers and the Coast Guard say the crisis is over with water levels rising and rocks cleared to deepen the channel. The corps recently removed riverbed rocks from a treacherous stretch south of St. Louis, and it says recent snow and rain have helped raise the Mississippi. 

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says the near-historic Mississippi River flood of 2011 caused $2.8 billion in damage and tested the system of levees, reservoirs and floodways like no other flood before it.

The Army Corps released a report Monday saying the Mississippi River and Tributaries system was operated as it was designed to work and was mostly successful in fighting the flood along of the nation's most important inland waterway.

This weekend’s rainfall has briefly alleviated dropping water levels on the Mississippi River, but it didn't put a dent in persisting drought conditions in the area. National Weather Service meteorologist Robin Smith says most places in western Kentucky got 4 to 5 inches but they are still up to 20 inches below average rainfall. The Mississippi River levels are between 12 and 13 feet but Smith expects those levels to drop back to 5 feet in just a few weeks.

The Army Corps of Engineers says its efforts to keep a crucial stretch of the Mississippi River open to barge traffic should help avert a shipping shutdown that river industry officials fear is imminent.