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St. Louis: Levees on the Mississippi River held on Sunday as the worst US Midwest flooding in 15 years began to ebb, but multibillion-dollar costs from major crop losses and other damage may last years as may effects on world food prices.
Waters levels on the river receded for the second straight day as mostly clear weather gave saturated areas a chance to start draining.
Several flood warnings remained in effect for communities in Missouri and Illinois, but officials said they expected the worst was over, with the focus now shifting to clean-up.
"We're just mentally and physically exhausted," said Winfield, Missouri, resident Carol Broseman, who fled her home for a shelter on Saturday after flood waters engulfed her neighborhood. "I've cried all I can cry."
The National Weather Service on Sunday forecast windy but mostly dry weather in the western and central Midwest states for the next several days, which will help waters recede further.
The Corps of Engineers at Rock Island, Illinois, reopened two locks on the Mississippi River but said four in the district remained closed with water still at 5 feet above lock walls.
The Midwest storms and torrential rains have killed at least 24 people since late May. More than 38,000 people have been driven from their homes, mostly in Iowa where 83 of 99 counties have been declared disaster areas.
Fears that as many as 2 million hectares of corn and soybeans have been lost to flooding in the world's largest grain and food exporter pushed corn and livestock prices to record highs in the last week.
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