Excess flooding causes woes in Arkansas, Missouri

Extreme flooding in Arkansas, Missouri in the US has thrown life out of gear. The residents in about 550 homes in the affected areas have been asked to vacate homes and move to safer place.

Arkansas: An economically struggling Arkansas town is preparing for record-breaking floods, though local officials say even after the waters recede, the community's resilience will bolster recovery.

Officials in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, about 40 miles (65 kilometers) southeast of state capital Little Rock, say revitalization for the town of 42,000 won't be thrown off track by a massive flood rolling through the state.

The river isn't expected to crest at its high of 51 feet (15 meters) until midday Wednesday in the city, which is located about 40 miles (65 kilometers) southeast of Little Rock, but officials have imposed mandatory evacuation orders for parts of Jefferson County, in which Pine Bluff is located, since last week.

Residents in about 550 homes that are situated within the levee system were told to leave last week, said Karen Blevins, the county's director of emergency management.

Meanwhile, communities along the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers in Missouri are piling up sandbags as another round of flooding strains levees.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says more than 40 levees have been overtopped across Missouri in less than two weeks. State Emergency Management Agency spokeswoman Caty Eisterhold says a weekend Mississippi River levee breach near Winfield flooded an estimated 50 homes, and several communities have been forced to evacuate.

The flood has strained the transportation system. The U.S. Coast Guard says more than 700 miles of the Mississippi, Illinois and Missouri rivers are closed to navigation. That includes a stretch of the Missouri River from Kansas City to St. Louis.