Midwest flood recovery under way
HANNIBAL, Missouri (Reuters) - The Mississippi River'screst migrated slowly downstream on Friday, submerging farmfields and small towns with its relentless flow as people andindustry tried to recover from the worst flooding in 15 years.
The flooding and violent storms have been blamed for 24deaths since late May across the Midwest, have generated untolddamage in the billions of dollars, and are expected toaggravate rising food prices since they ravaged prime areas ofthe U.S. Cornbelt.
Hannibal, the boyhood home of author Mark Twain, was highand dry behind its earth levee and flood wall but other townson both sides of the engorged river were not so lucky.
"It's a beautiful river, but it can turn very vicious andugly in a hurry," said John Hark, emergency management directorfor the city of Hannibal.
President George W. Bush toured some of the devastation inIowa on Thursday, and the White House said relief would be madeavailable from $4 billion (2 billion pounds) in thegovernment's disaster fund.
The Mississippi River has breached or overtopped sometwo-dozen levees so far this week, with 25 more seen at riskbefore its expected crest near St. Louis, Missouri, on Sunday.No new levee breaches were reported early on Friday.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which monitors theMississippi, said the river continued to rise just above St.Louis but levels were dropping slowly upstream.
The river will likely remain above flood stage for weeks.But compared to the region's last major flood in 1993, a lackof high water on the Illinois and Missouri rivers, two majorchannels feeding the Mississippi, was encouraging officials.
Insurance companies that sell crop coverage to farmers,including market leader Ace Ltd., were expected to face bigclaims of as much as $3 billion in Iowa alone, a LehmanBrothers analyst said.
Claims from homeowners may not be large because few haveflood insurance, analysts said. Only 17 percent of Americansbuy the coverage, the Insurance Information Institute said.
STRAINED AND LEAKING LEVEES
Volunteers, National Guard troops and prison inmates joinedin the effort to shore up strained and leaking leveesprotecting homes and thousands of acres of prime farmland.
The flooding in five Midwest states was thought to haveruined at least 5 million acres (2 mln hectares).
Corn prices stabilized since hitting record highs above $8a bushel this week at the Chicago Board of Trade. Soybeanprices retreated, but traders said any significant rainfall --or a summer drought -- could cause prices to take off again.
Since the U.S. is the world's biggest grain and foodexporter, the rising domestic food inflation is sure toaggravate global food prices in coming months, analysts say.
Bridges and highways have been swamped, factories shutdown, water and power utilities damaged, and the earnings ofrailroads, farmers, and myriad other businesses disrupted.
Railroad Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp joined UnionPacific Corp in reducing second quarter earnings outlooks,citing flooded tracks, damaged infrastructure and fuel costs.
Barge traffic remains halted on the mid-Mississippi River,costing barge carriers millions of dollars a day.
Leaders of the cattle and poultry industry, who rely oncorn and soybeans for feed, urged the U.S. EnvironmentalProtection Agency to halve a government mandate to blend 9billion gallons of ethanol into the nation's fuel supply.
After several days of mostly rain-free weather in hard-hitIowa, rivers and creeks retreated and left behind a clean-upmess.
"Now we begin the process of assessing debris removal andshort-term and long-term housing needs," said Bret Vorhees ofIowa Emergency Management. He said requests had declined forsandbags, water pumps, shelter and security.
Nearly 4,000 homes in Cedar Rapids were damaged or ruined,Vorhees said.
(Additional reporting by Sam Nelson, Jerry Bieszk and LisaShumaker in Chicago; Writing by Andrew Stern; Editing by VickiAllen)