Flooding causes oil pipeline, terminal disruptions

The latest developments on flooding in the Midwest (all times local):

1:15 p.m.

Record flooding is causing oil pipeline and terminal disruptions near St. Louis.

The rising Mississippi River has prompted Enbridge Inc. to shut down its Ozark oil pipeline, which transports oil from Cushing, Oklahoma, to the Wood River Refinery in Roxana, Illinois. Company spokesman Michael Barnes says the pipeline runs along the bottom of the river in an area stretching from West Alton, Missouri, to Hartford, Illinois. Barnes says the shutdown "ensures the safety of everyone."

Meanwhile, Kinder Morgan Inc. suspended operations at its Cahokia terminal in Sauget, Illinois, and its Cora terminal in Rockwood, Illinois, earlier this week because of flooding. Cahokia handles chemicals, coal, cement and metals while Cora handles coal and petcoke, a byproduct of oil refining.

Spokesman Richard Wheatley says the company hopes to resume operations as soon as possible once water levels recede.

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12:10 p.m.

Record-high water levels are disrupting train traffic in Missouri and Illinois.

Union Pacific says two sections of track in Missouri and two in Illinois are out of service because of rising waters. The Missouri stretches span from Jefferson City to St. Louis and from St. Louis to De Soto. The Illinois stretches span from Mount Vernon to Percy and from Springfield to Nelson.

The Jefferson City to St. Louis closure has disrupted an Amtrak route, forcing passengers to be rerouted on buses.

Omaha, Nebraska-based Union Pacific says in a statement that 70 trains in the St. Louis area have been held or rerouted because of high water levels.

Crews have put rock ballast, heavy machinery and generators in several areas near flooded tracks to assist with repairs when water levels fall.

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11:40 a.m.

The flooding in Missouri is causing raw sewage to flow into a second location on the Meramec River.

The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District says the sewage treatment plant in Valley Park was shut down yesterday after water from the Meramec River flowed over a wall of sandbags built around the plant.

Spokesman Sean Hadley says sewage normally treated at the plant is going into the Meramec. Residents are urged to stay away from the water.

On Monday, floodwaters caused a power outage that shut down the wastewater treatment plant in Fenton, another St. Louis-area town, diverting raw sewage into the Meramec.

And a sewage treatment plant in the southwest Missouri town of Springfield also closed earlier this week, allowing raw sewage to escape.

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10:35 a.m.

Searches have resumed in southwest Missouri for two men who are missing after recent flooding.

One of the men is a duck hunter who disappeared this weekend from the Four Rivers Conservation Area in Vernon County.

Sgt. John H. Lueckenhoff, of the Missouri State Highway Patrol, says the hunter is thought to be somewhere in 3,500-acre field in 10 feet of water. Crews are focusing on an area where the hunter's boat and belongings were found.

Volunteers also are searching for a motorist who disappeared Saturday night as he prepared to cross a bridge over the Pomme de Terre River in Polk County. Guardrails kept the man's vehicle from washing away.

Lueckenhoff says search teams and cadaver dogs are being used to look for the motorist.

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10:20 a.m.

Massive flooding in the St. Louis area has caused another wastewater treatment plant to shut down.

The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District says the sewage treatment plant in Valley Park closed yesterday after water from the Meramec River flowed over a wall of sandbags built around the plant.

It wasn't immediately clear if the shutdown was causing raw sewage to flow directly into the Meramec.

On Monday, floodwaters caused a power outage that shut down the wastewater treatment plant in Fenton, another St. Louis-area town, diverting raw sewage into the Meramec.

A water plant also flooded in High Ridge, south of St. Louis. Tanker trucks were bringing in water, but customers were urged to conserve.

And a sewage treatment plant in the southwest Missouri town of Springfield also closed earlier this week, allowing raw sewage to escape.

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8:20 a.m.

Amtrak has suspended traffic on a route that runs from Kansas City to St. Louis because of flooding in Missouri.

Amtrak spokesman Craig Schulz says the cancellations started Wednesday.

He says passengers with tickets on the River Runner will be bused on yesterday, though that service will bypass the two cities that are popular because of nearby wineries.

Train service from Kansas City to Jefferson City will resume Friday. People going on to St. Louis will have to ride a bus.

The Amtrak route shares a line that is also used for freight traffic.

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8:05 a.m.

The Meramec River has crested at a record level in the partially evacuated St. Louis suburb of Valley Park, but the shored-up levees held back the waters.

The National Weather Service says the river hit its peak of 44.11 feet around 3 a.m. yesterday — that's 4.39 feet higher than the record set in 1982.

Forecasts call for water levels to gradually fall over the next several days.

The town of about 7,000 residents has flooded frequently over the years, but the Army Corps of Engineers built a levee in 2007 and the community had been dry since.

Welders added additional metal to the top of the levee flood gates Wednesday as the river rose.

Even with the levee holding, a railroad bridge, roads, some homes and soccer fields flooded.

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7:40 a.m.

The St. Louis area is increasingly difficult to drive through, as floodwaters have poured over two interstate highways and hundreds of other spots on smaller roads.

The Missouri Department of Transportation closed a 24-mile stretch of Interstate 44 southwest of St. Louis on Wednesday, and shut down three miles of Interstate 55 south of St. Louis about 1:30 a.m. yesterday.

With I-55 closed, the only north-south alternative is Highway 231. But traffic there is backing up with cars and trucks that would normally be on I-55.

MoDOT spokeswoman Marie Elliott says motorists who can stay home should do so.

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6:40 a.m.

Flooding along the Meramec River in Missouri is setting records.

The US Geological Survey says field crews have recorded 18 preliminary record flood measurements along the river, which originates near Salem in south-central Missouri and empties into the Mississippi River near St. Louis about 220 miles later.

Crews also are measuring high flood flows in other river valleys.

The US Geological Survey says additional historic peaks are expected throughout the southern part of the state over the next few days.

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6:30 a.m.

Authorities were searching floodwaters for two 18-year-olds from the central Illinois community of Taylorville.

Police say the two were last seen Monday and divers concentrated their search Wednesday near flooded areas of Sangchris Lake and Pawnee, where one of the teen's cellphone was tracked.

Christian County emergency services director Mike Crews told the State Journal-Register that "it's going to be difficult to find them" because the water is so high and that authorities may have to wait for it to recede.

Seven people have died in Illinois flooding since last week.

Gov. Bruce Rauner declared five more counties disaster areas on Wednesday for a total of 12. Christian County is among them.

Rauner is scheduled to return to Springfield on yesterday evening and planned to survey flood damage.

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5:35 a.m.

The Missouri Department of Transportation has closed Interstate 55 in both directions at the Meramec River due to historic flooding.

Officials said in a tweet early yesterday morning that Rte. 231 remains open.

They had been preparing for the possible closure of the major interstate highway south of St. Louis Wednesday night due to the flooding.

An aggressive sandbagging operation had been underway to keep the lanes open. Other connections between St. Louis and Jefferson counties already are closed, including I-44 over the river.

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1:30 a.m.

Crews are trying to keep a major interstate highway south of St. Louis open amid historic flooding.

The Missouri Department of Transportation said Wednesday night that I-55 at the Meramec River near Arnold could close overnight or yesterday.

An aggressive sandbagging operation was underway to keep the highway from closing. Other connections between St. Louis and Jefferson counties already are closed, including I-44 over the river.

Local media report the traffic has been rerouted. But a spokeswoman for the Department of Transportation told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (http://bit.ly/1YTOKkk ) the detours are temporary to move in more equipment for flood-fighting.

Marie Elliott says, "The goal is to keep the highway open."