Midwest floods leave residents with "nowhere to go"
Mandatory evacuations are in place in parts of the Midwest as the area braces for flooding that is expected to swell rivers to record levels, threatening to breach nearly a dozen levees. The flooding is being blamed for at least 20 deaths in Missouri and Illinois.
Late Wednesday night, cars slogged through a flooded Interstate 55 in St. Louis.
As the Meramec River swelled to more than 20 feet above flood level, traffic on the interstate was backed up for miles. Parts of I-55 and I-44 have been shut down as the river is expected to crest at 49 feet by Thursday afternoon - higher than it's ever been recorded in the city of Arnold, where people are scrambling to escape to safety, reports CBS News correspondent Anna Werner.
"There's nowhere you can go. It's water but if there's enough of it, you can't do anything," said one resident.
The rising rivers are hitting levels not seen in 30 years, and the flooding has killed more than a dozen people in Missouri, submerging homes, bridges and prompting dozens of rescues.
"These are our homes, these are my neighbors. We've done everything we can and we still can't beat it," said another resident.
The city of Arnold is preparing for the worst flooding the area has ever seen, but its efforts may not be enough.
"We're to the point now that the sandbagging won't hold it back," said Arnold Police Chief Robert Shockey. "We're going to lose probably 100 to 150 homes."
Along the banks of the Mississippi in Valley Park, more than 300 families were ordered to evacuate because the water could breach a levee.
The severe weather has killed another five people in Oklahoma and floodwaters in the Carolinas have torn through roads and forced swift water rescues and evacuations.
The Coast Guard is restricting traffic along portions of the Mississippi River between Illinois and Missouri. In addition to the Meramec River, the Mississippi is also expected to crest at record levels in the coming days.