HANNIBAL, Mo. — Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder on Saturday pleaded for volunteers to help northeastern Missouri prepare sandbags as water levels on the Mississippi rose.
Kinder told The Associated Press that he is asking residents to help with sandbagging efforts in several communities, including Hannibal, Canton and Alexandria.
“Local authorities there are simply overwhelmed, and residents are busy protecting their own properties,” Kinder said. “I know Missourians will respond to our call.”
Later Saturday, Kinder said he had mobilized 165 Missouri National Guard troops to help. Three teams of soldiers will report today to Clarksville, Canton and Hannibal to help with sandbagging, with other soldiers providing levee monitoring in Canton.
The Missouri Department of Corrections also sent 93 minimum-security prisoners from correctional institutions across the state to help affected counties with sandbagging.
Mississippi River towns north of St. Louis are bracing for crests that should come close to records set in the flood of 1993.
At one location, Federal Locks and Dam No. 22 in Saverton, south of Hannibal, the crest will exceed the record level set in ’93, the National Weather Service said.
