DAVENPORT,
Iowa (AP)--Recent rains caused the Mississippi River to crest a
second time Tuesday, with meteorologists predicting a slow decline
in river levels through the remainder of the month.
``It is very
close to the highest level it's going to get,'' said Rich Kinney,
a meteorologist for the National Weather Service.
Meteorologists
said the river probably won't start falling from the secondary
21.3-foot crest until Wednesday night and was expected to fall
to only 20.5 feet by Sunday morning.
``It's going
to be a real slow decline,'' Kinney said. ``It wouldn't be out
of the question to see the river up above flood stage through
the rest of the month.''
The river
crested April 24-25 in the region at 22.32 feet, its third-highest
level on record.
City crews
and the National Guard added about 50,000 sandbags to the clay-and-sandbag
levee in the downtown area to reinforce it, Public Works Director
Dee Bruemmer said. And 20,000 sandbags were being added to the
wall protecting Davenport's stadium.
|
