ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Sunny skies teased flood-weary Missourians living near bulging rivers Tuesday, but the forecast offered a dire warning: More heavy rain is on the way.
The Meramec River in suburban St. Louis already is nearing all-time highs in towns such as Pacific, Eureka and Valley Park, potentially threatening 1,700 homes. Forecasters predict up to 2 inches of rain in the St. Louis area on Wednesday and Thursday, and perhaps 2 1/2 inches of rain in hard-hit southern Missouri.
The forecast is especially disheartening along the Meramec.
"This rain event could make for a new flood of record," National Weather Service meteorologist Mark Fuchs said. The weather service predicted that the crest at Eureka will top the record set in December 2015, and the crest in Valley Park will tie the mark set that same year.
Much of Missouri was inundated with up to 12 inches of rain over the weekend, causing flash flooding that killed three people and led to well over 100 evacuations and water rescues. More than 300 roads remain closed, including two stretches of Interstate 44 -- a 57-mile stretch from central to southern Missouri, and a 23-mile stretch in suburban St. Louis.
Smaller rivers are receding, but not the Meramec.
The small but volatile river cuts across the southern tier of suburban St. Louis. Frantic sandbagging continues in Eureka. Valley Park's mayor has ordered mandatory evacuations in levee-protected areas of town. St. Louis County emergency management director Mark Diedrich said about 200 homes have already been damaged by floodwater, and another 1,500 are potentially in harm's way.
The new round of flooding comes just 16 months after a rare Christmas flood swamped the same towns, damaging hundreds of homes and knocking two sanitary treatment plants offline.
St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar urged residents behind Meramec River levees to get out if they haven't already. Even if the levees hold, he said, there are dangers.
"The water is filthy," Belmar said at a news conference. "There are all sorts of health issues down there. We strongly urge them to evacuate until we can get this under control."
The Meramec flooding is impacting the Mississippi River, too. The Mississippi is a few feet above flood stage north of St. Louis, but major flooding is forecast by the end of the week in towns below where the Meramec spills into the Mississippi, southeast Missouri towns like Ste. Genevieve, Cape Girardeau and Scott City.
More than two dozen U.S. Army Corps of Engineers workers are patrolling the Missouri Bootheel and northwest Arkansas area to make sure levees and other flood structures hold back the water, Corps spokesman Jim Pogue said.
Major flooding is now predicted on parts of the Missouri River in eastern Missouri. The Missouri crested nearly 16 feet above flood stage Tuesday at Gasconade. The weather service predicts it will reach more than 13 feet above flood stage on Wednesday in Hermann, and around 10 feet above flood stage Wednesday in Washington and early Thursday in St. Charles. No major damage is expected at any of those locations due largely to buyouts in recent years.
The southern Missouri town of West Plains is cleaning up after flooding from Howell Creek caused tornado-like devastation in parts of the community, destroying buildings, ripping up part of the high school track and sending cars careening down the waterway. Among the 70 water rescues over the weekend, nearly two dozen college students were rescued from the roof of a student housing building.