Break in Levee Floods Historic Illinois Island : Midwest: Kaskaskia residents flee former state capital. In Des Moines, water is on tap for first time in 12 days.

As a clanging church bell sounded a warning, the Mississippi River crashed through a levee Thursday and began washing across Kaskaskia Island, a historic plug of land that was home to 150 people who held out to the terrible end.

In Des Moines, spigots shuddered, then hiccuped and finally gurgled for the first time in 12 days as a flooded-out water plant came to life. Tap water was restored to a quarter of a million people living in the largest city in America to go dry. Safe drinking water was still three weeks away.

In Chester, Ill., floodwater rose in a maximum-security prison and its adjacent psychiatric ward along the Mississippi riverfront. It cut off toilet and shower water to nearly 2,500 inmates. They were taken to port-a-potties in shifts. Guards cut a 40-foot hole in a chain-link security fence to provide access for emergency vehicles.

And in Marion County, Mo., Sheriff Dan Campbell said it might have been foul play that closed the Bayview Bridge last week, the only span across the Mississippi for 250 miles at the time. He said a saboteur could have released water that blocked the bridge and threw a barge into a gasoline station, knocking down a power line and causing a huge explosion.

And in Washington, $3 billion in flood aid stalled in the House, where members argued about how to pay for it. Some complained that the aid would bypass budget restrictions. Even $3 billion would hardly begin to cover total flood damage, estimated at $10 billion. Between 30,000 and 40,000 people are homeless, and 33 have been killed.

The toll was likely to climb. Forecasters called for more heavy rain, concentrated in the Mississippi Valley. “Large and severe storms will return to Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri,” said Steve Pryor, a senior meteorologist at WeatherData, Inc., a private forecasting service. He predicted heavy rain, tornadoes and damaging wind.

The saddest tragedy was at Kaskaskia. The bell in an old brick church rang out just before 10 a.m., signaling the end of efforts to save a 50-foot-high earthen levee holding the Mississippi away from the 15,000-acre island and its people.

Most had fled during the night after a gurgling sand boil erupted inside the levee. Island farmers evacuated most of the women, children and elderly. But about two dozen men and several defiant families stayed behind in a valiant effort to save the dike. They sandbagged into the early morning.

A military helicopter hovered overhead, shining a spotlight so that they could see.

Then, at midmorning, a 60-foot section of the levee burst. Within 20 minutes, 300 feet of the wall was destroyed, and water from the Mississippi gushed onto thousands of acres of crop land. Silent as an indrawn breath, the floodwater headed toward homes and businesses that make up three villages.

The helicopter flew from home to home, searching for anyone left stranded.

“We were sandbagging as much as we could,” said Denise Lankford, tears in her eyes. “But it wasn’t enough. It is so sad. People were really trying to keep everything together.”

She was among those who had fled across a western loop of the river to St. Mary, Mo. Others crossed an eastern loop to Chester. The two loops meet at the top and bottom of the island. Now the river water was threatening to cover it completely.

In the 1800s, the island was the territorial capital of Illinois. Then, for a while, it became the state capital. The Mississippi has surrounded it since a great flood in 1881. That flood wiped out the last remnant of a French fort that had been the original settlement. In 1973, the river swept across it again.

“In 1973, it just wiped away houses like toothpicks,” said Joann Donze, the city clerk at St. Mary. “They built up the levee to about 50 feet after that, and they never thought it could happen again.”

Authorities in Randolph County, which includes Kaskaskia Island, said the levee was tall enough to hold back the river but not strong enough to withstand weeks of unrelenting pressure.

“The levee just blew out from the bottom,” said Juanita Bleem, the county emergency coordinator. “We really thought the battle had been won.

“Then this happened.”

Missouri

In St. Louis, Tom Dietrich, a hydrologist with the National Weather Service, said that the Mississippi would crest for the third time in two weeks. This time, he said, the crest would come next Wednesday. It was expected to climb to 47 feet from river bottom, just shy of a record 47.05-foot crest on Wednesday night.

“Levees all along the Mississippi are just incredibly stressed at this point,” Dietrich said. “There is no telling what they will do.”

Along the southern edge of the city, levees along the River Des Peres, a Mississippi tributary, were holding Thursday afternoon. But flood-battered neighborhoods braced for the worst.

Authorities posted no-trespassing signs and police began arresting gawkers. Thousands of sightseers have hampered rescue efforts.

Trespassers faced 90 days in jail and a $500 fine.

“It is pretty sad when people get a thrill out of our misery,” said, Patti Casby, 27, whose sister lives two blocks from a swamped boulevard. “If they want to help, that is one thing. But they just look and then go home to their nice dry houses.”

Several blocks away, two men filmed the devastation with a hand-held video camera. They said that they had driven 500 miles from Michigan to document the flood.

“This is a historic phenomenon, this is not misery” said Jack Trevis, 70. His partner, Chuck Haywood, 45, agreed. “A blizzard with seven or eight feet of snow is misery.”

Downstream from St. Louis, Ste. Genevieve, Mo., tensed and waited. “We are worried about how long this water can be held back,” said Jean Rissover, an emergency volunteer. “With every hour comes more potential of destroying our levees.”

At Festus, Mo., levees already were leaking, and officials recommended evacuating vulnerable neighborhoods.

Iowa

In Des Moines, water service was restored to fire hydrants, homes and businesses. It was promised to industrial users by the day’s end on Monday.

L.D. McMullen, executive director of the city water plant, said that people should use the water only for flushing, showering and washing their dishes. Because of its high content of chlorine and iron, he said, the water will leave “brown blotchy things” on white clothing for at least several days.

Water safe to drink, McMullen said, was still three weeks to a month away.

City pipes have been dry since flash-flooding on the Raccoon and Des Moines rivers swamped the water plant. It turned Des Moines into the biggest city in American history without tap water. Residents have been using portable toilets and showering at friends’ homes in nearby towns.

For drinking water, they have been lining up at more than 100 distribution centers with pots, pans and jugs.

With the restoration of service, business and government offices that had closed for lack of water were permitted to reopen, provided that their fire sprinkling systems were recertified.

“We’re excited,” said Len Camden, general manager of the 415-room Marriott Hotel downtown. “We’ll start accepting guests tonight, but in probably less than 100 rooms.”

Noah’s Ark Restaurant, which already had contracted for a constant supply of clean water, planned to wait until the weekend before turning on its city intake valves. “We don’t want a toilet blowing up while customers are eating lunch,” said spokesman Mark Watson. “They wouldn’t like that.”

In residential neighborhoods, the return of running water was a cause for celebration.

“It’s starting!” squealed Karen Sievers, 45, as water started splashing into her bathtub. “Oooh! Just put your hands in that.”

Illinois

In Chester, Ill., floodwater from the Mississippi cut off tap water at the Menard Correctional Center, a maximum security prison.

It left 2,450 inmates with no way to shower or flush toilets. The warden brought in port-a-potties and bottled water. If necessary, he said, he would evacuate some of the prisoners to a gymnasium.

But prison officials said that the water would have to rise two or three more feet before that would happen. Many of the prisoners, said Nic Howell, a corrections spokesman, are serving 20 years or more for violent crimes.

Howell said Death Row was not affected.

The flooding closed a road leading to the front of the prison. Officials said they broke a 40-foot hole through a security fence to permit entry by way of a road that leads to the rear of the facility.

They said there was no threat to security.

At Falls City, Neb., the Big Nemaha River more than doubled in height from 12 to 25 feet--five feet above flood stage.

“That’s the seventh time it’s been out of the banks since the first of the month,” Roy Osugi, a National Weather Service hydrologist, told the Associated Press.

The 4,800 residents of Falls City were ready to evacuate if necessary.

In central North Dakota, 4 1/2 inches of rain fell in three hours at Glen Ullin. Basements collapsed and sewers backed up.

In Bismark, N.D., police closed half a dozen streets and intersections because of flooding.

Country music star Clint Black said he would donate proceeds from an Aug. 27 concert in Des Moines to flood victims. He urged other country singers to stage a special benefit concert or dedicate proceeds from a current show.

He called his effort “Operation Heartland.”

Murphy reported from St. Louis and Sahagun from Des Moines. Times staff writers Judy Pasternak in Chicago and D’Jamila Salem and Richard E. Meyer in Los Angeles contributed to this story.