Mississippi River Communities Brace For Flooding

Copyright 2017 St. Louis Public Radio. To see more, visit St. Louis Public Radio . STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: Now here's a change. Earlier this year, the worst drought conditions seen in the Midwest in decades threatened to close the Mississippi River to barge traffic. Now, communities along the river in Missouri and Illinois are bracing for flooding. St. Louis Public Radio Maria Altman reports. MARIA ALTMAN, BYLINE: The threat of flooding on the Mississippi River came on quickly after last week's storms dumped rain across the Midwest. The town of Clarksville, Missouri didn't even have time to erect its metal flood wall. Instead, volunteers spent the weekend frantically sandbagging. For farmers the rains have meant they haven't been able to start spring planting. Greg Guenther farms corn and soybeans outside of Belleville, Illinois. GREG GUENTHER: We haven't turned a wheel in the fields yet, and over the last couple of days here when that big rain came, we got six inches of rain. And oh my