Hundreds Flee Rising Rivers in Missouri, Illinois

Hundreds of anxious people fled rising water Thursday in Missouri and Illinois, and dozens were injured when tornadoes hit a shopping mall and a high school further east.

The Missouri River was 10 feet above flood stage and rising, officials said, because as much as 10 inches of rain had fallen in parts of the state since Sunday and two weeks of wet weather upstream had already swollen the river.

Many who suffered through a devastating flood in 1993 were taking no chances.

Hartsburg residents and volunteers started building a quarter-mile levee of crushed rock and sandbags between the river and their hamlet of 118 people.

Two deaths were blamed on flooding in Missouri: One man drowned when he tried to drive through a flooded creek, and one traffic death was blamed on standing water.

Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan declared a state of emergency for the entire state, and National Guard troops were patrolling in Nevada, Mo., where a storm packing 120-m.p.h. winds Wednesday damaged at least 15 homes and many downtown stores.

The airport in Jefferson City, Mo., was under water, said Susie Stoner of the state emergency management agency. She said some residents had to be evacuated, but the state has sought to lessen the displacements with a program that has bought up 1,800 properties in flood-prone areas since 1993.

In southern Illinois, high water forced more than 900 people from their homes and closed school for more than 4,000 students.

In Granite City, Ill., across the river from St. Louis, people were sandbagging to guard their homes. Granite City is protected by levees from the Mississippi but lies near the confluence with the Missouri. The Mississippi was 6 1/2 feet above flood stage at St. Louis but remained within its banks.

In Tennessee and Kentucky, meanwhile, tornadoes injured more than 50 people.

North of Nashville, a tornado skipped across a large shopping mall, causing an estimated $1 million in damage and injuring at least 26 people as roofs were ripped off and glass was blown out.

Nate Crawford, spokesman for the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency, said most of the injuries at the Rivergate Mall were broken bones and severe cuts. One person was listed in critical condition.

In Nicholasville, Ky., a tornado touched down on the roof of the Jessimine County High School gym just as its 1,500 students were headed to class, injuring 28 people.

Police Chief Kenneth Harp said no tornado warning had been issued for his county, and an employee of the school board’s central office said the tornado took the city by surprise. The twister also damaged several businesses.