Memphis waits for river to rise

MEMPHIS, May 5 (UPI) -- The Mississippi River began intruding Thursday into the streets of Memphis and a levee failure left a general aviation airport underwater.

Police closed parts of Beale Street, one of Memphis' most storied thoroughfares, because of water coming up through storm drains from the swollen river, The (Memphis) Commercial Appeal reported. The Mississippi was at 45.44 feet, leaving Riverside Drive, which was also closed in places, with only a foot of clearance.

The river was expected to rise about 3 more feet before it crests.

General DeWitt Spain Airport near downtown Memphis flooded despite a desperate effort by local officials to hold back the waters.

A large section of levee and a raised section of North Second Street was washed out, said John Greaud, vice president of operations for the Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority.

"The airport is completely flooded," he said.

Most aircraft at DeWitt Spain already had been moved to other airports.

A third levee breach in the Birds Point-New Madrid (Mo.) Floodway was opened Thursday to create a second hole in the frontline levee, allowing water to flow back into the Mississippi River, the Southeast Missourian reported.

Just before the blast, the newspaper said, the Ohio River's level at Cairo, Ill., was 59.59 feet, down from more than 61 feet when the first levee breach was created Monday night. The river had fallen 0.21 feet in the 24 hours before noon Thursday.

The levee breaches were created to lower water levels upstream, the newspaper said.

The first blast Monday night sent water over about 130,000 acres of farmland in Mississippi and New Madrid counties; Thursday's blast was one of two designed to let the water back out of the floodway.

Earlier, President Barack Obama declared states of emergency in Tennessee and Mississippi because of flooding along the Mississippi River.

Obama ordered federal aid to supplement state and local response efforts Wednesday in both states as flood-control experts prepared to blow a final hole in the Birds Point-New Madrid levee to reduce threats to populated areas.