Spring Floods on the Mississippi

The combination of high rains and melting snow caused the Mississippi
River to surge to near-record high levels yesterday (April 18) in parts of Wisconsin and Iowa.
Along populated stretches of the river, residents constructed sandbag barricades
to contain the rising waters. Still, the Mississippi overran its banks in many places,
forcing hundreds of shoreline residents to abandon their homes and bringing barge
and rail traffic to a halt along a 400-mile stretch of the river.

The Mississippi's muddy waters crested at 16.41 feet around 12 noon near La Crosse, WI,
which is more than 4 feet above flood stage but is still a foot and a half
below the record high set by the flood in April 1965.