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Gulfport, Illinois: The rising Mississippi River broke through a levee, inundating thousands of hectares of farmland, as floodwaters moved south into Illinois and Missouri. At least seven people have died in flooding that is the worst in a decade in some areas.
But even as the water jeopardised scores of additional homes and businesses, officials said the damage could have been worse if the federal government had not taken steps to clear flood-prone land after historic floods in 1993.
The flooding, which has claimed at least five lives in Iowa and two in Wisconsin over the past week, has resulted in thousands being forced from their homes.
On Tuesday, the flooding halted car travel over two bridges linking Illinois and Iowa and covered the tiny farming community of Gulfport and the surrounding area with three metres of water.
"I'm not going back after this one," 83-year-old Lois Russell said as she watched water surround her house near Gulfport. It was the third time she had fled her home because of flooding since 1965.
Bush visit on cards
The area was inundated after the Mississippi River, the US's main internal commercial waterway, broke through a levee near Gulfport. Authorities had to rescue at least a half-dozen people by helicopter, boat and four-wheeler.
President George W. Bush, whose administration was sharply criticised for its handling of the situation in the wake of the 2005 Hurricane Katrina along the US Gulf Coast, was briefed on the damage and was expected to visit the area today.
Preliminary estimates were that the flooding has caused more than $1.5 billion (Dh5.5 billion) in damage in Iowa, and that figure is set to rise as the high water moves downstream. Still, officials said the cost would have been even higher if the federal government had not purchased low-lying land after the 1993 deluge, which caused $12 billion in damage. Since then, the government bought out more than 9,000 homeowners, turning much of the land into parks and undeveloped areas that can risk flooding.
On the Iowa side of the river, a sandbagging operation was moved south to the outskirts of Burlington after floodwaters streamed across state Highway 99. Officials were also concerned about the integrity of a levee that protects a drainage area south of Oakville.
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