By Jacque Day
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wkms/local-wkms-965820.mp3
Cairo, IL – Missouri officials have filed a federal lawsuit to block an effort to punch a massive hole in a Mississippi County, Missouri levee to protect the small city of Cairo, Illinois. A hearing is scheduled for Thursday in Cape Girardeau. Jacque Day spoke with Cairo's mayor.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will wait until this weekend to decide whether to breach the levee. Cairo Mayor Judson Childs has been on the phone to his congressman and senator urging them to support the breach to keep the city from flooding.
"It's been rumored that Cairo is a depressed area, and I was highly upset. You don't say because you're a depressed area that you don't count. Where are our people at? I want them to be seen, not only seen but to be heard too."
In the meantime, Mayor Childs has asked the citizens of Cairo to voluntarily evacuate. So far he says about 300 people, roughly a tenth of the population, have done so.