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Floods Soak the Midwest
Last week was a wet one for the Midwest. Heavy rains drenched Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. Then, as all that water flowed downstream, it filled up rivers in Arkansas, Mississippi, and other states. The flooding in some places was the worst in 25 years.
In Arkansas, the White River overflowed. The floodwaters drowned wheat crops that had just been planted. Half of that state had counties that were declared disaster areas by the federal government. The river was rising as much as a foot a day.
The Mississippi river is also filled to the brim. The National Weather Service said that in Vicksburg, Mississippi, the river would reach a flood stage. Some streets and bridges are already flooded. People are filling bags with sand to keep the water off some streets.
Another way people keep rivers from overflowing is by building levees, which are huge mounds of dirt. The US Army corps of engineers is checking levees in cities like Natchez, Mississippi, to make sure they can hold back the flood. The weather service says that the water will be high until April 5th. People with homes near water will be watching nervously until then. And everyone is hoping that spring rains won't bring more floodwaters later this month.
I'm Ben and that's what happened in our nation this week.
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