Missouri River floodwaters break levees

WOOLDRIDGE, Mo. - Levee breaks along the Missouri River flooded homes, farms, highways and railroad tracks as floodwaters that have inundated the region were expected to peak in some spots this weekend.

Near-record flood levels dropped in some places but rose in northwest and central Missouri. Worried residents removed valuables from their homes and filled sandbags to protect river communities.

A barge that floated loose in Glasgow was captured by the state water patrol about 60 road miles downstream near Hartsburg, officials said. The water patrol planned to tie it up until the waters receded, Highway Patrol Capt. Tim Hull said.

Along the Mississippi River, surging water and debris threatened to knock loose a docked, four-story pleasure barge and slam it into a bridge. Three of the four chains holding it in place broke, but U.S. Coast Guard crews and a private tugboat company were able to secure it.

Inmates from St. Joseph prison and National Guard members filled sandbags to try to protect a water-treatment plant, schools and an ethanol plant near Craig, where the Missouri River dropped a few inches Thursday.

The water got within a "whisker from going over in several places," Holt County Sheriff Kirby Felumb said.

Rivers breached or topped dozens of levees across the state, officials said. No serious injuries or deaths had been reported in the flooding, said Brian Hauswirth, a spokesman for the State Emergency Management Agency.

Although the river crests were lower than forecast in many areas, residents remained anxious. Many were here for the 1993 floods, among the most costly in U.S. history.