In what is set to be a historic weather event, large parts of Missouri, Arkansas and Illinois have been declared disaster areas by state governors because of severe flooding and torrential rain in the area. The flood conditions are expected to extend throughout the week until Jan. 7.
The floods are expected to exceed the record flood crests seen in 1993 in St. Louis. The walls of the levees in this area are about 5 feet taller than even this record, and therefore should not be threatened by the flood. However, hundreds of people have evacuated their homes as a precautionary measure. 20 people have already died in flooding related incidents this week.
