UPDATE 7-Severe floods hit Missouri as U.S. storms sweep north

(Adds evacuations, quotes, details, updates flight delays)
By Kevin Murphy and Mary Wisniewski
KANSAS CITY, Mo./CHICAGO, Dec 29 (Reuters) - Floods in
Missouri forced hundreds of residents out of their homes on
Tuesday after four days of storms sent rivers to record levels,
killing at least 13 people, closing hundreds of roads and
halting shipping on the swollen Mississippi river.
A week of chaotic weather continued throughout the United
States as a storm system that spawned deadly tornadoes in the
Midwest and Southwest pushed north. More than 40 people across
the country have died of weather-related causes during the
Christmas holidays in the past week.
Missouri has been pounded by downpours since Saturday, and
forecasters warned that its major rivers could crest between
Wednesday and Saturday at records.
"Flooding on the middle portion of the Mississippi River and
its tributaries may reach levels not seen during the winter
months since records began during the middle 1800s," Alex
Sosnowski, senior meteorologist, wrote on AccuWeather.com.
At the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers,
about 20 miles (32 km) north of St. Louis, residents of the
towns West Alton and Arnold were told to evacuate on Tuesday.
"Access to and from town will be lost in a matter of hours,"
the local Rivers Pointe Fire District said in an alert. Video
from local news helicopters showed homes in West Alton with
water almost at roof levels.
Arnold residents scrambled to find hotels or move to
shelters.
Sarah Quinn, 18, said she and her great-grandparents were
moving to a hotel room after police turned off the power at her
subdivision. Her sister, grandmother and other relatives decided
to brave it out without power because they wanted to stay in
their homes and vehicles to look after their pets.
"I've never had this happen before. We've had simple
flooding in the back of our subdivision and we've had to sandbag
before, but it wasn't this severe," said Quinn, who spoke to
Reuters by telephone, from her job in a local restaurant.
The Bourbeuse River crested on Tuesday at an all-time record
in Union, Missouri, after flooding about 25 homes, nine
businesses and the city's sewer system, Mayor Mike Livengood
said.
"It will take major work to get those businesses up and
running again," Livengood told Reuters. He said no one was
injured in the town of about 10,500 people in Franklin County,
just southwest of St. Louis.
Missouri Governor Jay Nixon called out the National Guard to
direct traffic away from hundreds of closed roads across the
state and urged drivers not to drive into flooded areas. Most
deaths in flooding occur when cars are swept away.
Three new flood-related deaths were discovered on Tuesday,
the governor said, raising the death toll in the state since the
storms began over the weekend to 13.
"These citizen soldiers will provide much-needed support to
state and local first responders, many of whom have spent the
last several days working around the clock responding to record
rainfall and flooding," Nixon said in a statement.
Nixon will visit Franklin County on Wednesday to tour of
flood-fighting efforts in Pacific, where the Meramec River
continues to rise above flood stage. The river is expected to
crest on Wednesday evening more than 2 feet above the previous
record set in 1982.
Across the Mississippi, in Illinois, some inmates were moved
out of the Menard Correctional Center, a maximum security prison
on the banks of the river, and sandbags and drinking water were
prepared in anticipation of flooding in lower level cell blocks,
Illinois officials said in a statement.

MISSISSIPPI TO CREST ON FRIDAY
The U.S. Coast Guard closed a five-mile (8 km) stretch of
the Mississippi River near St. Louis to all vessel traffic due
to hazardous conditions.
The National Weather Service forecast the Mississippi River
at the Chester, Illinois, river gauge about 60 miles (100 km)
south of St. Louis would crest at 49.7 feet (15.1 meters) on
Friday - matching the 1993 record.
Local officials and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers were
working to fortify a levee in the area to protect homes and
businesses.
On Saturday, the Mississippi is expected to crest at Thebes,
Illinois, just south of Cape Girardeau, Missouri, at 47.5 feet
(14.5 meters) - nearly two feet above the record, officials
said.
Other rivers are also expected to reach new highs, with the
Meramec forecast to crest at Valley Park, Missouri, at a record
42 feet (12.8 meters).
Illinois issued a disaster proclamation for seven counties
with flooding or potential flooding after being drenched with
seven inches of rain between Dec. 23-28.
Elsewhere in the U.S. midsection, parts of eastern Oklahoma
and Arkansas, were under flood warnings and flood watches on
Tuesday. Up to a foot (30 cm) of snow was forecast for Iowa and
the Great Lakes region, the National Weather Service said.
The severe weather has stranded tens of thousands of
travelers during one of the busiest travel periods of the year.
As of 9:30 p.m. EST on Tuesday, more than 1,440 flights had been
canceled in the United States and about 8,500 were delayed,
according to FlightAware.com.