After rapidly overflowing its banks and pouring into homes and businesses along its upper reaches, the Mississippi River has crested in much of the Upper Midwest, easing fears of a record disaster, even though major flooding is forecast to continue in the region through mid-May.
The river was peaking Wednesday at Dam 17, just north of New Boston, Illinois, said Mike Welvaert, a service coordination hydrologist with the North Central River Forecast Center. "We're looking for the crest between Keokuk (Iowa) and St. Louis over the next two to three days."
