Flood unease builds south along the Mississippi

WYATT, Mo. (AP) -- The dramatic, late-night demolition of a huge earthen levee sent chocolate-colored floodwaters pouring onto thousands of acres of Missouri farmland Tuesday, easing the threat to a tiny Illinois town being menaced by the Mississippi River.
But the blast near Cairo, Ill., did nothing to ease the risk of more trouble downstream, where the mighty river is expected to rise to its highest levels since the 1920s in some parts of Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana. ( 32 images)

Chuck Peebles relies on a friend's canoe to make his way through flooded parts of the southern Illinois city of Metropolis on Tuesday, May 3, 2011. Peebles, 53, still occupies the second-story apartment in one of the buildings in the background, accessing it by way of the fire escape as floodwaters from the Ohio River continue to creep up. Jim Suhr / AP

Water flows through an intentional breech in the Birds Point levee Tuesday, May 3, 2011, in Mississippi County, Mo. Jeff Roberson / AP

Water swirls around a broken levee in the spillway of Missouri farmland after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers breeched the levee at Birds Point New Madrid Floodway near Cairo, Illinois, to relieve pressure from the rising Mississippi River, Tuesday, May 3, 2011. E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune

Deer try to navigate the rising floodwaters after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers breeched the levee at Birds Point New Madrid Floodway near Cairo, Illinois, to relieve pressure from the rising Mississippi River, Tuesday, May 3, 2011. E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon walks atop a sandbag wall being built along side Maj. Gen. Stephen Danner, left, and Capt. Juan Carlos Valencia, right, both of the Missouri National Guard as they tour flood preparations Tuesday, May 3, 2011, in Caruthersville, Mo. The town in southeast Missouri is bracing for a crest of 49.7 feet later this week. The flood wall protecting the town can hold back up to 50 feet, but a sustained crest will pressure the wall. Workers have been fortifying the concrete and earthen barrier with thousands of sand bags. Jeff Roberson / AP

A farm is seen surrounded by floodwater Tuesday, May 3, 2011, in Mississippi County, Mo. Jeff Roberson / AP

A structure is seen nearly covered by floodwater from the Mississippi River, Tuesday, May 3, 2011, north of New Madrid, Mo. Jeff Roberson / AP

Part of the 130,000 acres of farmland flooded by an intentional break in the Birds Point levee is seen Tuesday, May 3, 2011, in Mississippi County, Mo. Jeff Roberson / AP

Floodwaters from the Mississippi River are seen Tuesday, May 3, 2011, north of New Madrid, Mo. Jeff Roberson / AP

Houses are surrounded by floodwater Tuesday, May 3, 2011, in Pinhook, Mo. The tiny town was flooded when the Army Corps of Engineers' blew a two-mile hole into the Birds Point levee Monday night in southeast Missouri, flooding 130,000 acres of farmland in Missouri's Mississippi County in an effort to protect nearby Cairo, Ill. Jeff Roberson / AP

A house is seen with floodwater up to its roof Tuesday, May 3, 2011, in Mississippi County, Mo. Jeff Roberson / AP

This aerial photo shows the threat of massive flooding and a levee breach was lightened on Tuesday, May 3, 2011 after the Birds Point Levee, Mo. was breached by the Army Corps of Engineers. Paul Newton / The Southern

This photograph taken from aboard a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter shows a flooded farm, and power poles protruding away from the area, Tuesday, May 3, 2011 near New Madrid, Mo. John Wright / The Paducah Sun

Rising waters flood a farm in the spillway of Missouri farmland after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers breeched the levee at Birds Point New Madrid Floodway near Cairo, Illinois, to relieve pressure from the rising Mississippi River, Tuesday, May 3, 2011. E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune

Wappapello Lake in Wayne County, Mo., flows over its emergency spillway and into the already swollen St. Francis River Tuesday, May 3, 2011. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials say the spillway is operating as designed. Paul Davis / Daily American Republic

Wappapello Lake in Wayne County, Mo., overflows its emergency spillway Monday morning, May 2, 2011, threatening residents downstream on the St. Francis River. Paul Davis / Daily American Republic

Jeff, left, and Steve Walters float a make-shift pontoon platform down Woodhaven Drive Tuesday, May 3, 2011 in Metropolis, Ill. The two were working to help remove items from Mike Walters' house that is surrounded by water at the far south end of the street. Even though the family had stacked a three-foot tall wall of sandbags around the house, rising waters overtook it sometime on Monday. Steve Jahnke / The Southern Illinoisan

Townspeople in Elizabethtown, Ill. build a wall of sandbags to hold back the rising water on Tuesday, May 3, 2011. Stephen Rickerl / The Southern

This aerial photo shows much of Thebes, Ill remains under water on Tuesday, May 3, 2011. Paul Newton / The Southern

A sign at a side entrance to Fort Massac State Park is shown nearly totally submerged Monday, May 2, 2011 as a shelter inside the park rapidly fills with floodwaters from the Ohio River in Metropolis, Ill. John Wright / The Paducah Sun

Tom Notter of Equality, Ill. works to secure sandbags outside of his home on Monday, May 2, 2011. Flash flooding was reported all around Southern Illinois as rain continued to hit the region. Les Winkeler / The Southern Illinoisan

Crews with the Illinois Department of Transportation work to put gravel down on a closed portion of U.S. 51 south of Cairo, Ill., on Monday, May 2, 2011, to fill in holes in the road. This part of the road is near both the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. Paul Newton / The Southern Illinoisan

Inmates from Tamms Correctional Facility, Menard Correctional Facility and the Du Quoin Boot Camp load sandbags outside a store Monday, May 2, in Cairo, Ill. Paul Newton / The Southern Illinoisan

Volunteers hastily work to build a wall of sandbags along Illinois 3 on Sunday, May 1, 2011 in Olive Branch, Ill. Rising floodwaters were only inches from spilling over the opposite side of the highway. Alan Rogers / The Southern Illinoisan

Janice Bigham, center in orange, stands atop a pile of sandbags as other help her sandbag her flooded home Sunday, May 1, 2011, in Olive Branch, Ill. Jeff Roberson / AP

Kyle Bigham walks atop a sandbag wall as he works to protect his home from rising floodwaters Sunday, May 1, 2011, in Olive Branch, Ill. Jeff Roberson / AP

C.L. Jones paddles his way back to shore Tuesday, May 3, 2011, in Calhoun, Ky. Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear said on Tuesday that a decision to breach a levee along the Mississippi River in Missouri is helping to take the pressure off floodwalls in his state. John Dunham / The Messenger-Inquirer

With Green River floodwater over his calves, Daniel Davis stands in the kitchen with personal belongings on sawhorses Tuesday, May 3, 2011, . in Livermore, Ky. John Dunham / The Messenger-Inquirer

Flooded fields are seen from a National Guard helicopter in northwestern Tennessee on Tuesday, May 3, 2011. Erik Schelzig / AP

Flooding is seen in downtown Tiptonville, Tenn., Tuesday, May 3, 2011. The Mississippi River is expected to rise to its highest levels since the 1920s in some parts of Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana. Erik Schelzig / AP

A farm house near Dyersburg, Tenn., is surrounded by floodwater on Tuesday, May 3, 2011, as seen from a Tennessee National Guard helicopter. Erik Schelzig / AP

A bridge over the Ohio River to Kentucky is closed Sunday, May 1, 2011, in Cairo, Ill. The mayor of the town at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers says that most of the city's remaining residents have heeded a mandatory evacuation order, prompted by river water seeping up through the ground behind a levee. Jeff Roberson / AP