4/14/93
By: Martha Parsons
Courier-Post Staff Writer

Business people whose shops line the Mississippi River, residents in the Bear Creek flood plain and city officials are keeping a watchful eye on the weather today, hoping the bulging Mississippi River continues to recede despite heavy rain on Monday.

The river has been inching down since cresting at 21 feet Sunday, lessening the chance for a major flood. It is predicted to keep falling, even though rain is forecast for the next few days.

"We're just sitting and watching," said Bob Williamson, city engineer. "We closed the storm sewer system a week ago. If you go down to the Riverfront Inn, a foot of water would be in the street there now (if the system had not been closed). It's doing its job."

The river was 20.77 feet high early this morning, down .22 feet since 5 a.m. Monday. Technical flood stage is 16 feet, but buildings are not in danger until the water reaches about 21 feet. Wednesday, the river is expected to drop to 20.5 feet, and by Friday it will sink to 20.2 feet, the National Weather Service predicts.

A 60 percent to 70 percent chance of rain is forecast for today, with showers and thunderstorms also forecast for tonight, a weather service spokesman said. Wednesday, there is a 50 percent chance of rain, with more of the same predicted for Thursday. Friday is the first rain-free day in sight for the Hannibal area.

Flood levee gates installed Friday remain up at Hill and Center streets, and sandbags line the Broadway opening to the river. The Broadway and Main Street openings remain open.

Water remains backed up in area waterways, including Bear Creek. The river is 5 feet below the top of levees in Lincoln County. Most of the river's tributaries there are swollen, the Lincoln County Sheriff's Department reported. Route 79, which lines the river, remains open.

Barbara Eddy, part-owner of Liz Mulhern's Bar-B-Que at 117 Hill St. in Hannibal, said the construction of the flood wall has eased her fears about flooding.

"We really weren't that concerned because of the flood wall," she said. "We feel pretty secure now that the flood wall is up."

However, she and her daughter were not renting the building when it flooded in the past, she said. Charles Anton, whose children now own the building, said he will continue to monitor the weather during the next few days and throughout the spring. The building has been flooded many times, including when his parents operated a bottling plant out of it from 1918 to 1968, he said.

"I watch it very closely," he said. "In fact, I was at the pond area last night to see if they were pumping any."

Having the new flood wall just down the street comforts him a little, he said.

"But we really haven't tested it yet," Anton said. "You need to watch for the next 30 days. You're not out of the woods until the first of June."