Missouri and a dozen other states are under flood warning of what may be the largest flood in history. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Tuesday that 13 states are effected by this flood warning that was caused by this passing seasons heavy storm front. The state under most distress is Missouri.
Levies are already over capacity in West Alton, a city north of St. Louis and Tuesday St. Charles County emergency officials ordered all people to evacuate the more rural areas which lie on the Mississippi River. Down stream in Illinois, Menard Correctional Center has be partially evacuated.
Although the flooding of the Mississippi River would affect thousands of people, Missouri is at the highest alert.
Lauren Mueller, a resident of St. Charles County , Missouri, said that a park in her neighborhood is already underwater and that,
“Ducks are swimming where [her] feet were two weeks ago”.
Union, Missouri has been cut in half by floodwaters already according to Russell Rott, an emergency management official. Mayor Mike Livengood said 25 homes have been affected by flood waters from the Bourbeuse River.
Majority of the weather related fiascos going on across the Western half of the United States are due in large part to the El Nino. El Nino is a warming air current that moves along the eastern Pacific Ocean, mainly along the equator. El Nino occurs every two to seven years with variable intensity. The last time El Nino was this intense was in 1997 around $30-45 billion dollars of damage were done.
