Ohio, Mississippi rivers flooding in region
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<p class="p1">Major to record flooding was in the forecast for Southern Illinois, Southeast Missouri and Western Kentucky as 2015 came to an end and a new year started.</p><p class="p1">Flooding was occurring on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers and other waterways in the region, where flood warnings had been issued by the National Weather Service office in Paducah.</p><p class="p1">The entire Ohio River basin from Owensboro, Kentucky, to Cairo has, or was expected to go, above flood stage by the middle of last week.</p><p class="p1">Major flooding was in the forecast for Grand Chain and Cairo. </p><p class="p1">The weather service posted the following flood warning information on its website last week:</p><p class="p1"><strong>Ohio River at Grand Chain dam:</strong> at 7 p.m. Monday, Dec. 28, the river stage was 49.8 feet. Flood stage is 42.0 feet. Major flooding was in the forecast. The river was expected to continue rising to near 59.0 feet by Tuesday, Jan. 5.</p><p class="p1"><strong>Ohio River at Cairo:</strong> at 9 p.m. Monday, Dec. 28, the stage was 48.9 feet. Flood stage is 40.0 feet. Major flooding was in the forecast. The river was expected to rise to near 59.0 feet by Tuesday morning, Jan. 5.</p><p class="p1"><strong>Ohio River at Brookport dam:</strong> at 7 p.m. Monday, Dec. 28, the stage was 43.7 feet. Flood stage is 37.0 feet. Minor flooding was in the forecast. The river was expected to rise to near 51.0 feet by Tuesday, Jan. 5.</p><p class="p1"><strong>Mississippi River at Thebes:</strong> at 8 p.m. Monday, Dec. 28, the stage was 40.1 feet. Flood stage is 33.0 feet. Record flooding was in the forecast. The river was expected to rise to near 47.5 feet by Saturday evening, Jan. 2.</p><p class="p1"><strong>Mississippi River at Cape Girardeau:</strong> at 8 p.m. Monday, Dec. 28, the stage was 40.4 feet. Flood stage is 32.0 feet. Record flooding was in the forecast. The river was expected to rise to near 48.5 feet by Saturday morning, Jan. 2. The weather service reported that at "48.5 feet this flood will exceed the highest stage on record."</p><p class="p1"><strong>Big Muddy River near Murphysboro:</strong> at 8 p.m. Monday, Dec. 28, the stage was 26.2 feet. Flood stage is 22.0 feet. Moderate flooding was in the forecast. The river was expected to rise to near 33.6 feet by Saturday morning, Jan. 2.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p2"> </p>