Flooded Mississippi crests in St. Louis

ST. LOUIS, June 21 (UPI) -- The swollen Mississippi River was slowly starting to recede at St. Louis Saturday after reaching a crest below 1993's record, meteorologists said.

The river peaked at 37.1 feet in the city Friday, falling well short of 1993's record of 49.6 feet but still causing havoc in smaller cities and farm fields in Missouri and Illinois, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

In Lincoln County, Mo., where the flooding had claimed 300 to 350 homes, National Guard members furiously packed sandbags Friday in an effort to save the town of Winfield from the surging river waters, and in nearby Foley, Mo., nearly one-third of towns homes were underwater and nearly all the residents had been evacuated, the newspaper said.

National Guard officials said late in the day they had completed 95 percent of its work to fortify Lincoln County's secondary levees. Local authorities were optimistic the barriers would keep the Mississippi away from many of the area townships.

Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt toured Lincoln and Pike counties by helicopter Friday and said during a stop in Winfield a federal disaster declaration for the state has been applied for, the Post-Dispatch reported.