Southern US states are bracing themselves for major flooding as surging waters that have inundated parts of Missouri and Illinois head south down the Mississippi river.  Heavy rainfall at the end of December, the largest deluge since May 2011, has caused the Mississippi, Meramec and Missouri rivers to burst their banks. In some areas, the Mississippi is 40ft above its flood mark, causing at least 24 deaths in several states.  Most of the deaths have been caused by people attempting to drive through flooded roads. Two major highways, Interstate 44 and Interstate 55, were closed when water submerged them near St Louis.  The unusual winter flood is expected to affect people farther down the Mississippi over the coming weeks, with officials in Memphis, Vicksburg and New Orleans among those attempting to prepare residents for expected flooding. Hundreds have already been evacuated from towns in eastern Missouri.  Firefighters have been going door to door in Shelby County, Tennessee, warning residents of the rising water, with some people in the area already reporting ducks and fish swimming in their back yards.  In Mississippi, where Governor Phil Bryant issued a state of emergency last week, the water level in the river is measuring around 43ft in some parts and is expected to peak around 10 days’ time.  ExxonMobil has shut its refinery in Memphis in anticipation of the flood, while officials in the city have spent the past week planning their response with pumps and levees when the water arrives.  In Louisiana, which has also declared a state of emergency, the governor’s office of homeland security and emergency preparedness urged residents to devise their own plans if they were at risk of being deluged.  “River flooding is an emergency that requires constant monitoring and adjustment as the situation evolves,” said director Kevin Davis, who added that the agency “stands ready to assist our local partners in any way necessary to get through this event. We also urge the public to get a game plan if your home or business could be impacted”.  Officials have stressed lessons have been learned from huge floods that occurred in 2011, which caused $2bn in damages in Memphis alone. During the 2011 floods, the Ohio river, which joins the Mississippi, reached a peak of 61ft.  But Jay Nixon, governor of Missouri, has requested federal help with the “devastating, record flooding” that has affected hundreds of properties in the state. On a tour of the eastern reaches of the state, Nixon said he couldn’t quite believe the damage wrought.  “I’m from this part of the state and, quite frankly, it’s almost hard to believe,” he said. “It’s almost as if you’re living on some other planet.”
Warnings issued in Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana after flooding from heavy December rainfall caused death and destruction in Missouri and Illinois