Update 12/31/2015 3:40PM CST: Kansas City pastor's family trapped by flood waters
With the Mississippi River and many of its tributaries showing no sign of subsiding, families are continuing to head to higher ground. The Mississippi River is now forecasted to peak ABOVE the 1993 record, according to NOAA. Danger and destruction is imminent.
Mississippi River Flooding: Exclusive Land & Aerial Shots of Flood Damage https://t.co/kzWqRGK5tb via @YouTube
-- joseph price (@joeyyeo13) December 31, 2015
Aerial pics of Meramec River & Mississippi River flooding, Dec. 31 https://t.co/UZ5WBZ1mNC via @STLtoday pic.twitter.com/h031XDJpWw
-- David Carson (@PDPJ) December 31, 2015
Missouri Flood 2015 Aerial - 12/29 - Cape Girardeau County, Missouri Area
The Mississippi River is flooding big time right now, at the wrong time of year, and is forecasted to match or break 22-year-old crest records over the next few days. Meteorologists are calling it "insane."
Over the next three to four days, the Mississippi is predicted to reach a crest height of 49.7 feet at Chester, Illinois, one of several locations where the National Weather Service records data about the river. As of Tuesday afternoon, the river has already risen to 40.8 feet.
The MS River @ Chester is forecast to exceed its all-time crest from the flood of '93. That is absolutely remarkable pic.twitter.com/uGZBS2SmGO
-- Taylor Trogdon (@TTrogdon) December 28, 2015
The "great flood of 1993," as it has come to be known, was "one of the most significant and damaging natural disasters ever to hit the United States," according to a National Weather Service hydrologist, writing in 1996. "Damages totaled $15 billion, 50 people died, hundreds of levees failed, and thousands of people were evacuated, some for months."
While the worst is still yet to come, the flooding in places has already become severe. According to The Washington Post, the flood water in parts of eastern Oklahoma has already risen above the height of houses. Images are rolling in on Twitter of cars inundated by the growing flood.
@Region8News @ryanvaughan hwy 90 Pocahontas side of 11 point pic.twitter.com/MfYfJKMULK
-- Dianna Medlock (@diannalynn1332) December 29, 2015
The Coast Guard closed part of the Upper Mississippi River to ship traffic, and Missouri Governor Jay Nixon activated the state's National Guard on Tuesday, to "provide security in evacuated areas and direct traffic from road closures," according to local station KFVS12.
Flood warnings currently out for roughly 1/3 of the entire Mississippi River drainage basin. Pretty incredible. pic.twitter.com/8H3dBLKOpD
-- Anthony Sagliani (@anthonywx) December 29, 2015
The Mississippi isn't the only river flooding. A series of major storms over the weekend have sent torrents of rain down over the central United States, pushing 400 rivers to flood across the region, the Post reports.
Several rivers above flood stage already and the Mississippi is rising. Updated info go to https://t.co/sx7pZcVBDa pic.twitter.com/9K66NHVsng
-- NWS Memphis (@NWSMemphis) December 29, 2015
