Levees Give Way as Hundreds More Flee Floodwaters : Storm: No end to crisis is in sight for Mississippi Valley residents. Missouri River is expected to spill over its banks, cresting 10 feet above flood stage.

Rain forced hundreds more residents of the Mississippi Valley from their homes Friday as levees burst and the region’s flood crisis showed no signs of a quick end.

Earthen levees in Keithsburg, Andalusia and Quawka, Ill., which had been holding back floodwaters, gave way Friday morning--releasing the turbulent Mississippi River and causing the evacuation of at least 850 residents of Keithsburg.

Ragging currents also forced the closure of another seven-mile stretch of the Mississippi between East Moline, Ill., and Davenport. The Mississippi remains closed to barge traffic along a 500-mile stretch from St. Paul, Minn., to St. Louis.

Meanwhile, people along the Missouri River began preparing for that waterway to spill over its banks; it is expected to crest at as much as 10 feet above flood stage early next week. On Friday, nearly 400 inmates were being moved from a women’s prison near the river in Cedar City, Mo.

Several locks had been reopened along the Minnesota-Wisconsin stretch of the Mississippi, but shippers losing an estimated $1 million a day were still effectively shut down because locks remained closed south to St. Louis, the Army Corps of Engineers reported.

Transportation Secretary Federico Pena visited St. Louis on Friday and toured flooded areas of the Mississippi. President Clinton plans to view flooding in Davenport on Sunday.

Pena said that as many as 1,000 barges have been idled by the flooding, but most Americans don’t realize how important the river is to shipping.

“The river is sort of out of sight for most of us,” he said. “We don’t appreciate the impact of something like this.”

More water appeared headed for the river. During the night, thunderstorms dumped as much as three inches of rain on parts of Minnesota and Wisconsin. Minnesota Gov. Arne Carlson called out the National Guard to help control traffic Friday.

Despite sandbagging by volunteers and the National Guard along the river, water still threatened homes and businesses in Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois and Missouri.

The last of the 500 residents of the village of Gulfport, Ill., were evacuated Friday because of the failure of a levee a few miles away, although a levee protecting the town was expected to hold.

Authorities were not so confident downstream in Niota, Ill., where water was bubbling through a levee and endangering about 350 residents.

“It looks bad,” said Jack Curfman, a Hancock County disaster agency official. “We’ve strongly suggested everyone evacuate.”

Farther south, officials predicted that the Mississippi, where it is wide and deep, would not flood. But they said the two-week shutdown may eventually jam the lower river with barges and ships.

The worst of the flood conditions at this point appears to be south of Dubuque, Iowa, where floodwaters have crested or reached their peak, Army Corps of Engineers officials said.

Hundreds of people went to Davenport’s new Civic Center to fill sandbags in exchange for free Bon Jovi rock concert tickets, and 100 inmates at the East Moline Correctional Center filled nine trucks with sandbags.

Water levels have risen so high in Davenport that they are now covering water gauges, forcing officials to measure levels manually.

Clinton said Thursday that he expects to ask Congress for special funding for farmers and other victims. Nearly 3 million acres of soybeans remain unplanted across the region because of heavy rains and floods. Even more acreage could be lost if the stream breaks through levees.

The river was to crest in Davenport at 22 feet today, almost seven feet above flood stage.

Twenty-eight years ago, several Iowa and Illinois cities shelled out millions of dollars for flood protection, but three times since then Davenport residents have rejected proposals to build flood walls, deciding instead to keep their view and trust their luck.

“I think the vast majority of residents in Davenport want it the way it is, living in concert with the river rather than fighting it,” City Alderman Larry d’Autremont said.

The Mark Twain bridge connecting Missouri and Illinois was closed Friday because of high water.

Recreational boat traffic, already warned about hazardous conditions on the Missisippi River, has been ordered halted indefinitely on a 350-mile stretch of the river from Dubuque to the mouth of the Illinois River near Grafton, Ill., Coast Guard Petty Officer Robert Raskiewicz said Friday.