Flood Imperils Scores of Homes in St. Louis : Disaster: Hundreds flee as tributary of the Mississippi breaches levee. Officials expect main river wall to hold.

The Mississippi River rolled toward the top of the St. Louis flood wall Sunday and hurled thousands of gallons of water into a tributary that snakes along the southern city limits, knocking sandbags off a levee and sending people fleeing for safety.

As residents and sightseers gathered at the Gateway Arch to watch, officials said they expect the Mississippi to crest five feet short of splashing over the flood wall. But it was no comfort to residents in south St. Louis, where the River Des Peres pushed a 50-foot stretch of sandbags off the top of a levee and poured into a nearby neighborhood.

Police and National Guard troops with bullhorns urged 1,200 people to flee. Hundreds did. The water rose to six feet in parts of a five-block section of homes and businesses. It was expected to climb to 10 feet by midnight. Authorities said hundreds of homes could be flooded, and they feared that still more sections of the levee would give way.

A Monsanto chemical plant surrounded by sandbags was in the flood area, but police tried to calm fears about toxic spills. “We believe the plant is very well protected,” said Officer Charles Shine. “Monsanto spent a lot of money to make sure that it is. You can’t be sure of anything in a flood situation, but we feel the sandbags will hold there.”

Throughout the Midwest, people prayed for the rain to stop. The death toll stood at 29. Damage estimates ranged up to $10 billion. Transportation Secretary Federico Pena told CNN that 11 airports have been flooded, six of 16 bridges across the Mississippi have been knocked out and countless miles of railroad disrupted. “Everything,” he said, “is affected.”

But still the rain kept falling. Thundershowers hit portions of all 12 Midwestern states. Forecasters said the storms could last for several more weeks. They predicted rain today for most of the Midwest, as well as Texas and Oklahoma.

“People don’t think it can get worse,” Gary Schuchardt, an emergency agency official in suburban St. Charles County, Mo., told the Reuters news service. “But it can--and probably will.”

In all of the turmoil, however, there was praise for the 52-foot flood wall protecting this city, one of the largest on the Mississippi. Gary Dyhouse, chief hydrologist for the St. Louis district of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, said he expected the wall to stand fast against the river, which was nearing 47 feet at its crest.

“There would have been a tremendous amount of damage during this flood,” he said, “if it were not there.”

Missouri

In south St. Louis, however, people along the River Des Peres packed their cars with clothing and household goods as water crept toward their lawns.

Linda Truccano, 29, a bankruptcy court clerk, fled carrying plastic bags filled with framed photographs. She said: “I’m just taking what can’t be replaced.”

Water was doorknob high at nearby houses. A less optimistic family moved everything possible. “There’s nothing left for the river to take,” said Gerald Ganim, 19, as he put a microwave oven into the family car.

His father, Gerald Ganim Sr., 45, interrupted. “We can lose the home, you know.” He paused. “It’s so stressful. You can’t believe this is happening. I am in shock. It’s hard to (let it) sink in. Who would have predicted this?”

Larry Jordan, owner of the Last Stop Liquor Store, cruised the streets in a boat. One of his employees, in waist-high water, entered the store briefly and came out shaking his head. “My store’s gone!” Jordan said. He turned his boat around, picked up his employee and left.

Police feared widespread theft. “People are going to get out on their boats,” one officer said, “and start looting.”

Others feared that still more parts of the levee would burst. “The one that broke went like that,” said Sgt. Dino Orlando of the Illinois National Guard, snapping his fingers. “And when one (part) goes, it’s a matter of time before another one goes.”

Iowa

In Des Moines, residents will have to wait at least another two days for running water. Officials blamed trouble with a pump motor at the city water plant.

They had hoped to restore water today. A quarter of a million residents have been without tap water since a week ago Sunday, when the Raccoon and Des Moines rivers overflowed and swamped the plant. Now, officials said, it will be Wednesday before the first household taps are turned on.

The big fear is fire. When water is restored, it will be pumped into fire hydrants first. Officials hope this will happen Tuesday, clearing the way for them to begin residential service the following day.

Once water is restored, it will not be fit to drink. Residents will have to boil their water for at least another three weeks to prevent infection from contaminated pipes.

At the water plant, scores of employees and volunteers worked night and day.

To get water to the city, the plant relies on six pumps. Three are large pumps, operating at 1,750 horsepower apiece; three are smaller ones, running at 950 horsepower. All are connected to huge cylindrical motors.

When floodwaters overwhelmed the facility, all six motors were put out of commission. Now, one by one, five are being lifted by cranes and taken off the premises to be fixed. The sixth is being repaired on site.

The initial plan, said L.D. McMullen, the plant manager, was to restart the facility using a smaller pump. With the facility out of commission for so long, officials feared that turning on a larger pump would put too much force into the system and knock out water mains underground.

But that plan went awry when the first motor for a small pump came back from repairs and still would not work. Now, McMullen said, the plan is to start the plant using a big pump, but doing it slowly. “My engineers,” he said, “are extremely nervous.”

Among some residents, patience clearly was wearing thin.

“I just thought they would have been more careful with their promises about when we’d have water,” sighed 26-year-old Janet Pittman, who like many others has been bathing at friends’ homes. “I usually am the most even-tempered person, and I find myself being so cranky after being out all day without a shower. . . . I’m just trying to cultivate my friendships outside of Des Moines.”

Others reacted with equanimity.

Randy Cason, a 53-year-old disabled forklift driver, lives in a low-income neighborhood.

“This is nothing new to us,” Cason said. He recalled growing up with 27 brothers and sisters. “We’re used to hard times,” he said. “The new generation, now those kids aren’t used to this. They don’t know nothing but running water and toilets. We had outhouses. These kids don’t know what hard times are.”

Other States

Illinois: Rain threatened an earthen dam on a tributary of the Fox River in the Chicago suburb of Algonquin, and 500 people were evacuated. In Sycamore, about 20 miles west of Chicago, 300 people were told to leave a trailer park to avoid flash floods.

North Dakota: The Red River, which flooded Fargo and its twin city of Moorhead, Minn., last week, rose even higher over the weekend. City officials debated whether to build a dike to protect downtown Fargo. The Red River, which flows north into Canada, is expected to crest on Thursday.

Times staff writers Sheryl Stolberg and Tracy Shryer in Des Moines and Richard E. Meyer in Los Angeles contributed to this story.

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