UPDATE 6-Record flooding hits U.S. Midwest, threatens South

(Changes dateline and byline, adds quotes from residents,
details)
By Sue Britt and Kevin Murphy
VALLEY PARK, Mo/KANSAS CITY, Mo, Dec 30 (Reuters) - Swollen
rivers in the U.S. Midwest and other regions brought flood
warnings for over 12 million Americans on Wednesday as scores of
buildings were submerged after days of intense rain in which 24
people have died.
Two rivers west of St. Louis crested at historic levels,
flooding local towns, disabling sewer plants and forcing the
evacuation of hundreds of residents.
Other major rivers including the Mississippi are expected to
reach record highs as flood waters rush toward the Gulf of
Mexico, the National Weather Service said.
The flooding has closed many roads and parts of Interstate
44, a major artery running from west Texas to St. Louis. It
poses a threat to livestock and crops in farm areas stretching
from Illinois to Louisiana.
Water rose to the rooftops of homes and businesses in
Missouri, where Governor Jay Nixon called the flooding "historic
and dangerous." Nixon spoke with President Barack Obama on
Wednesday and received a pledge of federal support.
About 300 people in Valley Park, Missouri, west of St.
Louis, were evacuated in case a levee is breached on the Meramec
River, said Chief Rick Wilken of the Valley Park Fire District.
Residents in West Alton and Arnold, at the confluence of the
Mississippi and Missouri rivers, and the town of Pacific have
also been evacuated.

'I GOT THE CATS OUT'
Most evacuees stayed with family or friends or went to
hotels, but Allen Irwin, 40, a construction worker, went to one
of seven American Red Cross shelters set up in the area. The
Valley Park resident said police came around evacuating people
and he only had time to grab his two cats, which he put in a
plastic tub.
"I got the cats out and everything else is replaceable,"
said Irwin, who noted that construction work will be readily
available after the flood. If his house was flooded, he said he
would "pick up the pieces and start again."
The Humane Society had a trailer at the shelter to take care
of Irwin's cats and other pets.
In Tiptonville, Tennessee, residents were watching the
Mississippi rise, and some lowland cotton fields had already
flooded and farms been evacuated.
"We shut all the floodgates last night here. People near the
river already are moving furniture and valuables to a higher
ground," said Dewayne Haggard, manager of the food Rite grocery
and a member of the Tiptonville City Board. "One day alone, we
had 10 inches of rain. Pray for us."
Further south, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal declared a
state of emergency as the waters moved toward his state. Flash
flood warnings were issued for parts of the Carolinas and
Georgia.
Some 12.1 million people nationwide are living in areas
where there are flood warnings, the National Weather Service
said in a statement.

'ONE HUGE LAKE'
At least 24 people have died, mostly from driving into
flooded areas, in Missouri, Illinois, Arkansas and Oklahoma
after days of downpours with as much as 12 inches (30 cm) of
rain.
In Eureka, Missouri, along the Meramec River, Mayor Kevin
Coffey said a man was rescued from atop the cab of his pick-up
truck after spending the night in a parking lot to watch over
his gun shop business.
"This is 4 feet (1.2 meters) above the worst flood we ever
had," Coffey said after helping to put sandbags around a school.
"The town looks like one huge lake."
Historic floods on the Mississippi in 1993, 1995 and 2011
occurred during warm weather, after snow melts in the north.
AccuWeather senior meteorologist Alex Sosnowski called it highly
unusual to have heavy flooding in winter and said it could
presage trouble for the spring.
While the rains have stopped for now, freezing weather is
setting in, which will make the cleanup a miserable undertaking,
he said.
Agriculture experts said water standing more than a week
could kill the soft red winter wheat crop. L1N14H19M Export
premiums for corn and soybeans were at their highest levels in
weeks because of stalled barge traffic on swollen rivers.

2,500 HOGS DROWN
Livestock also has been hard hit. About 2,500 hogs drowned
in an Illinois barn after a creek overflowed its banks, said
Jennifer Tirey, a spokeswoman for the state's Pork Producers
Association.
"There was no electricity and roads were impassable. It was
just impossible to get to those pigs," she said.
The U.S. flooding is occurring at the same time as historic
El Nino-related flooding across northern England. The El Nino
weather phenomenon tends to disturb global weather patterns as
ocean water temperatures rise above normal across the central
and eastern Pacific, near the equator.
The Mississippi River, the third longest river in North
America, is expected to crest over the weekend at Thebes,
Illinois, at 47.5 feet, more than a foot and a half (46 cm)
above the 1995 record, according to the National Weather
Service.
Flood warnings were issued from eastern Oklahoma into
southeastern Kansas, southern Missouri, central Illinois and
parts of Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, and the Florida
panhandle.
Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner, who has been at an
undisclosed foreign vacation destination with his family,
intends to return to the state Thursday and spend the following
days touring the flood-stricken areas, his spokeswoman told
Reuters.
By press release, Rauner declared 12 counties disaster
areas.